


I'm always angry

by JnDoe



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Bella Swan with a Backbone, Eventual Smut, F/F, Slow Burn, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:21:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 122,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29239731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JnDoe/pseuds/JnDoe
Summary: Bella has gotten into a lot of trouble the past years, to prevent his oldest daughter from going to juvi again, Charlie bartered with his badge to get a Texas judge to agree with Bella coming to live with him. Will Bella get her bad temper under control? How will forks affect this unusual 16 year old. Rosella, AU, M rated.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Original Female Character(s), Rosalie Hale/Bella Swan
Comments: 72
Kudos: 303





	1. Welcome to Forks

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note:
> 
> Hi, this is my first fan fic ever and my first serious writing ever so tips are appreciated.  
> The Bella in this story is a very different that the one we're used to, definitely AU.  
> She's tall, gets into trouble, has various tattoos, very athletic and above all else she's  
> very angry. She's not afraid of using people and hurting people. I have the first 2  
> chapters written and have enjoyed it so far. I'm planning for this to be long winded,  
> as indicated there will be a Rosella relationship eventually but you'll have to be  
> patient. Rated M for good reason, there will be course language and mention of  
> illicit products etc. The vampires will be a little different too. Bella, Jake and Leah are  
> the same age, Leah never was with Sam, Sam and Emily are a few years older.  
> I hope you'll enjoy the first chapter.

**Chapter 1**

**Where there is anger,  
there is always pain underneath.**

“Isabella listen to me! Do not forget that this is your last chance, next time you get in trouble they wont be this lenient on you” my Mom Veronica said.

“Whatever Mom” I answered as I turned around.

I put in my earbuds and walked through airport security.   
My destination was Forks, Washington, a place I was still unsure off whether or not it was as worse as the juvenile delinquent facility I was released from a week ago.

While sitting in my first plane headed straight from Houston Texas to Seattle I couldn’t help but feel like I was in a prison bus headed to jail. I never liked Forks, nearly constantly overcast, too cold, too wet, too small and definitely too boring. I used to have to spend half the school vacations there with my Dad Charlie and often times my younger sister Sarah. Though the past years that had been severely reduced, last time I saw Charlie was a few years ago when he had flown in a couple of days around and I had done my best to come up with excuses to spend as little time with him as possible, so that I could go about my daily business.

Like any good “prisoner” I couldn’t help but think of what I had done to deserve this harsh punishment, sure I was always in trouble due to my temper, anger was my constant companion. But didn’t that douchebag Brett deserve to have his nose broken for calling me out? Thinking back at him calling me a filthy dyke in front of the school I had only started in a couple of weeks earlier made my already angry blood boil again. Of course, having been arrested several times and having been in 4 different schools in that year alone didn’t help either, naturally the judge saw all of that when I had to show up in court after the douchebag’s parents pressed charges.

Charlie having found out I was in trouble again, big trouble this time, had intervened. In Forks he was known as Chief Swan, as a law enforcement officer and my father he had persuaded the judge to sentence me to an alternative, I would go live with him and I would follow court mandated anger management classes and therapy. So only a short stay in juvi this time before heading to an even worse kind of detention facility. And to top it all off, while this was being handled in court, my kid sister Sarah’s mom Renee had passed away from cancer. So she had moved in with the chief as well, what fun it shall be, being followed by a depressed teenager like she’s a puppy while being watched by a cop and analysed by a shrink, doesn’t the constitution say something about cruel and unusual punishment not being allowed? How am I supposed to mind my temper under such circumstances?

I had worked myself up quite a lot by now and the stewardess who could see me shaking, she presumed from the plane being a little cold came over to ask: can I get you a blanket sweetheart? Leave me alone! I snapped at her. She quickly went on her way to go bother other people and I put in my earbuds after having needed to charge them and started listening to some death metal hoping it would calm me down somewhat.

A couple of hours later I had landed in Seattle and fortunately only had a short layover, I bought one of those expensive airport meals cause even though I had a very big breakfast as usual, I could feel it wasn’t going to tie me over till I got to Charlie’s. I hope my Mom Veronica made It clear to him what unusual amounts of food I ate a day, even for a 5”11 athletic teenager. I boarded the regional plane that makes a stop in Port Angeles where Charlie would be waiting for me.

An hour later I had landed and collected the one suitcase I brought with me, since I was going to be living in Forks until either the court order was lifted or I graduated high school, the first being possible when I turned 18, though I seriously doubted Charlie would want to run the risk of me being able to get out from under it before I graduated high school, most of my stuff was being shipped overland and had left several days ahead of me with some of my most treasured possessions amongst them.

As I exited the small terminal through the double doors I saw Charlie, of course I thought, I should have figured he would be coming to pick me up in his police cruiser, so embarrassing to be seen in that thing. I walked over to him pulling my suitcase behind me and my backpack slung over one shoulder. He walked towards me aiming to help me with a suitcase so immediately I thought: ugh men.

“I’m so glad that you’re finally here Bells, let me help you with that.”

“I’m good Cha – dad, I got it.” Was my immediate reply.

Charlie really didn’t like it when I called him Charlie in his face so ill need to be careful I thought. I put my suitcase and backpack in the back and let myself in the car sitting in the passenger seat. During the drive to Forks, with Charlie religiously observing the speed limit and every traffic law imaginable Charlie was eying the large bird tattoo I had gotten on the left side of my neck the day after I was released from the juvenile detention centre for the purposes of having a week for settling my affairs. Charlie knew I had other tattoos, thanks to my fake ID that I successfully was able to bring with me I had already been able to get several tattoos back home in the past year. But none of the others were visible as I was wearing my leather jacket.

“It’s real dad, it wont rub off.”

I said and followed it up with a little chuckle to break the silence and hopefully get him to look at the road again. I didn’t want to get on his nerves too much as I was still unaware of what rules Charlie was going to lay down for me and how much they would deviate from the rules Sarah had to follow. Sarah wasn’t much younger than me, when my mom got pregnant with me she had broken up with Charlie before she knew and had moved to Texas to study while living with my maternal grandmother. If not for grandma, Charlie probable wouldn’t have known that I was even alive, he had his name added to the birth certificate and I had become Isabella Marie Swan. Sarah was from his short lived rebound relationship with Renee before she ran away with Sarah, it appears that Charlie had given up on the institution of being in a relationship after that, or at least gave up on getting women pregnant.

“It’s an interesting tattoo, not sure if I would have gotten it in such a location.” Charlie said being super obviously diplomatic.

“So. Uhm.. Bells, since you’re aware of Sarah’s mom having passed away. Could you try to be civil with her, I know you two will probably never have a sister bond or even friends but try to make it liveable at home, she’s having a hard time.”

He said and I noticed from his tone that he was stating It instead of asking. Trying to be diplomatic as well I told him “I’ll do my very best”

After all despite not getting along that well with Sarah during the vacations we spent together I still wouldn’t wish being forced to live in Forks, hopefully Charlie will be a parent for her than Renee was. In a slightly more professional tone Charlie said:

“I got your schedule at home with your appointments, for your anger management classes I got you booked with Emily Young at the reservation in La push, for your therapy session you’re booked with dr. Cullen at the local hospital.”

I sighed, not looking forward to any of it.

“Come on Bells, give it your best, you have a good chance at becoming happy here with so many people in your corner.” Charlie said hopeful.

“I’ll do my best, dad.”

The rest of the drive to Charlie’s house was spent in silence, he wasn’t much of a talker and I was still stewing over this whole mess.

As we arrived at the house I saw this big old truck in the driveway, Charlie seeing I was eying the thing said:

“I originally got it for you as a homecoming present but with what happened to Renee you’ll have to share it with Sarah for a while. It’s a Chevy, I got it from my friend Billy Black, you must remember him, you used to play together with his son Jacob and your other friend Leah Clearwater all the time when you visited, anyway it looks a little rough but Jacob rebuilt the engine she’s solid and reliable. Billy can’t drive it anymore since he had a accident on his boat several years ago that confined him to a wheelchair.”

Charlie was obviously trying to sell me on that behemoth that looked like you could win a destruction derby with without even a dent in the bumpers. Not wanting to give him grief over it and wanting to prevent him from laying down the law, I asked him with a confused tone

“uhm dad, didn’t mom mention that amongst the stuff being shipped is my motorcycle?”

Charlie had a look on his face that suggested he wasn’t amused and probably not a fan of motorcycles. I quickly added that

“I’d like to see about buying my own car before winter since I had some money saved and could access part of the inheritance I got from grandma”

Charlie seemed to like that a little more.

“I’ll help you buy a car if you want Bells, I’d just prefer if you keep that motorcycle in the garage when the weather is bad.” He said.

Feeling I’d better not continue this line of conversation I quickly redirected and suggested we’d go inside to say hello to Sarah and so that I can bring my suitcase up, the mention of Sarah brought a small smile on his face.

As we went into the house Sarah came out of the kitchen, she was clearly in the middle of cooking. Once again it was blatantly obvious how different we were from each other, she had Charlie’s brown hair and eyes. She was also still as pale as you could possibly be, does she never go out in the sun I thought once again. Surprisingly though she had grown into an average sized 5”4 teenager and looked reasonably healthy and a lot less depressed than I suspected. In comparison I stood at nearly 6 foot, the same height as Charlie, with natural black hair though it was dyed purple, from a short glance most of what I got from Charlie was height and my hair being curly, the height did make me very tall for a girl though, I had rapidly shot up in height the past years, now I towered over most of my peers, with very few exceptions. Thinking of scoring some points with Charlie I set down my suitcase and backpack and gave Sarah a hug and said to her:

“I’m sorry about your mom short cake”

She looked a little shocked at my unexpected gesture but eventually replied

“thanks Bella. Are you ok, because you’re feeling very warm? Maybe you have a fever?”

Over the past years I had gotten used to people mentioning that I was running a little hot, my body temperature was always about 108 degrees. So I said to her

“I’m fine, I always run a little warmer than other people, just tired and hungry.”  
  


“I’m almost done cooking dinner.” She said and rapidly retreated into the kitchen, still shy I thought.

After unpacking my suitcase and backpack in my old bedroom which had recently gotten a few upgrades thanks to Charlie consisting of a new queen bed and a desk. Thankfully I still had the biggest one. I heard Charlie yell

“dinner is ready!”

I rushed downstairs nearly praying that there would be enough food cause I was starving. Entering the kitchen I saw that Sarah had cooked more than enough but had to resort to serving it on the kitchen counter due to Charlie’s small kitchen table, I helped myself to a large first serving and started eating fast due to being so hungry, I knew both Charlie and Sarah were staring at me while they ate their normal sized portion, Charlie went for second when I was about to get up, clearly afraid he wasn’t going to have enough to eat. I asked sarah if she wanted another serving but she was good and with the leftover food I managed to help myself to a second large serving. Fortunately everybody in this house like to eat in silence, when I was done I said to sarah

“that was really good shortcake, thanks.”

She blushed and asked me in return how I manage to eat that much and still stay in shape. I answered

“I run from the cops a lot.”

Causing Charlie to nearly choke on the beer he was drinking. When he recovered he went to the living room mumbling something about watching a game, while Sarah was barely able to prevent herself from laughing.

Having helped Sarah with the dishes, by hand of course since Charlie hasn’t even heard from a dishwasher I excused myself and said

“I’m gonna shower and then go to bed, I’m pretty tired from all the traveling after all.”

I managed to find a little space for my toiletries in the small bathroom upstairs that the three of us had to share unfortunately, took a shower and went to bed. Having gone to bed fairly early, I woke up fairly early at 6:00 AM. I decided to hold off with breakfast and go on my daily run so quickly changed into my sports bra and running leggings and proceded downstairs trying not to make too much noise while carrying my running shoes. As it was Saturday I hadn’t been expecting anyone to be up but Charlie was in the kitchen as I went in thinking of making coffee.

“You’re up early, Bells”

Charlie said while looking up from his newspaper clearly questioning the outfit I was wearing.

“I couldn’t sleep anymore” I answered while I helped myself to a mug of the coffee Charlie made, grateful that Charlie was a believer in strong coffee. Since Charlie hadn’t laid down any rules yet I decided I might as well force his hand so I would know what was what.

“So dad, normally I go for a run in the morning to get rid of some excess energy and have breakfast afterwards. Will that be a problem?”

Charlie could see that clearly I wasn’t making excuses due to my athletic physique, because I wasn’t wearing a top over the sports bra he could even see my abs. Charlie said to me

“Bells I want you to find happiness here and hopefully get your temper under control so for you the rules are the same as they are for Sarah, home by 10 on schooldays otherwise midnight, stay out of trouble and let me know where you’re going. The only added rule for you is to show up at your appointments, speaking of you have to be at Emily’s place in La push at 4 pm for your introduction session.”

I didn’t really know what to say to this unexpected kindness but: “Thanks dad.”

Having finished my coffee I rinsed the mug and put on my running shoes. Charlie asked:

“Aren’t you going to wear anything else?”

Clearly I was correct when I had thought he didn’t approve of the outfit and he thought it was too skimpy.

“I always went on my run like this in Houston dad, I didnt have time to buy long leggings and a running top.” I replied.

“I was gonna go fishing but if you want I can tag along on your run if you want me to?” Charlie asked.

Knowing Charlie was overweight and out of shape I said under my breath

“Dad you’re a hard attack waiting to happen.”

But I quickly followed it up in a slightly condescending tone

“I’m a pretty fast runner and run for a long time, I actually do a mile in under 5 minutes dad and I know how to take care of myself.”

Charlie knew it was pointless to argue and didn’t want to push any further buttons so he said:

“Ok, I’m going to be gone most of the day fishing, I have my cell phone with me, be safe and don’t forget to be at Emily’s on time, directions are on the fridge.”

“Bye dad, leave some fish for the rest of Forks”

I said as I headed out and put my earbuds in. I started jogging towards the town as Charlie lived on the outskirts to warm up, after I bit I started running faster and faster and faster, feeling good that I could finally let loose, after 30 minutes I turned around and started heading back, there were some signs of life in Forks at this still somewhat early hour with a few surprised people looking at a tanned body with a blob of purple hair running past them like a bat out of hell, I got back to charlies house at around 7:30 AM with a cooldown jogging pace. Even though it was a nice sunny day and surprisingly warm for forks I had barely broke a sweat. I used the key hidden in the eave above the door to let myself in, I had already heard that the Shower was running, so with Charlie’s cruiser gone it meant that Sarah was up. Grudgingly I went to cook breakfast instead of taking a shower after my run. I was nearly done with cooking the huge amount of banana pancakes, eggs and bacon when Sarah entered the kitchen.

“Good morning”

Sarah said as she got a bowl and a box of cereal out of one of the cupboards.

“you really gonna eat all those sugar carbs? Wouldn’t you rather have a couple of banana pancakes, eggs and bacon?”

I asked in a condescending tone.

“Come on, I made enough for both of us. You can set the table.”

Sarah’s eyes were obviously trained on my body, unlike me she wasn’t athlethic and running was out of the question with her two left feet. She then put her sugar loaden cereal back and said:

“sure, thank you Bella”

Sarah put a couple of plates on the kitchen table, with utensils and asked what I wanted to drink.

“I’ll have another cup of coffee short cake.”

After eating a very large breakfast I was able to immediately take a shower since Sarah insisted on doing the dishes. I spent the rest of the morning keeping busy with getting settled in, checking my social media that had a bunch of we’ll miss you posts and checked my emails. I had a berating email from my mother warning me again that id best stay out of trouble and to email her back when I had arrived in Forks. It sent my blood boiling again and I slammed my laptop shut while muttering: “who does she think she is.

To avoid trouble I made sure that I left for La push ahead of time, and thus I hadn’t bothered too much with how I was dressed and like this morning had my hair up in a messy ponytail.

“I gotta go to an appointment and I need the truck”

I said to Sarah not really caring if she could hear me. As I got into the behemoth I noticed it smelled of tobacco and gasoline in there. I started it and it roared to life, well this truck may give my motorcycle a run for its money when it comes to noise I thought. Still agitated from my mom’s email I smoked a cigarette while on the road. To be honest this truck may be reliable and starts well but it’s so slow, only a cop dad would buy a truck that doesn’t go faster than 55 mph.

I arrived at Emily Young’s house/office with 15 minutes to spare. It was one of those typical small houses you see all over in the country side. I sighed and got out of the behemoth and knocked on the door. A young native American woman came to open the door and I heard people talking inside.

“Hi you must be Bella, you’re a bit early the guys are still eating but come in and eat something while they finish up, I’m Emily”

She said and led me to her small kitchen, around the table there were 3 young, well built, tall native American men sitting all with a russet skin color that was only a few shades darker that my own. While Emily introduced them by saying

“That’s Paul, that’s Jared and this is my fiancé Sam.”

I noticed the left side of her face was disfigured by 3 linear scars. She walked to a cupboard to get me a plate and the oldest looking one that she had pointed out as Sam stood up and held out his hand, when I shook his hand he looked at me strangely and I returned the favour as it was odd shaking hands with somebody who appears to be having a similar body temperature. He recovered and said

“welcome, we’ll be finished soon so that you can get started with Emily.”

I sat down on the empty chair and started eating the plate Emily had brought me with a big muffin, and a couple of BLT sandwiches.

The guys left and I couldn’t help notice them looking back and overhear the one named Sam saying: We need to talk to the council about her. I glanced over to Emily to check what I suspected, she hadn’t heard it, of course she didn’t since I’ve never met anyone with such good hearing as I have. I helped her clean off the table, she was my anger management therapist after all and last thing I needed was scoring bad points from the start. As we sat down in her living room/therapy room she asked:

“Ok so can you tell me how often you feel angry and what you currently already do to try and calm down?”

I thought it over and said:

“Well to be honest I’m constantly angry and I go on long hard runs every day as it relaxes me and I listen to music when I get more pissed off throughout the day.”

Emily of course wrote that down and then said:

“has anyone ever taught you breathing exercise’s and meditation? Meditation in the evening can really help you find balance and the breathing exercise’s are helpful to quickly calm down.”

I rolled my eyes then hoping it wasn’t obvious and replied:

“No, not that I can say.”

For the next 50 minutes she had me doing breathing exercises that she showed me then had me sit one the floor with my legs crossed with my eyes closed breathing in though my nose and out through my mouth. After a while I started thinking that this chick may be onto something. She apologized when her phone rang and excused herself so she could pick it up. I overheard her saying:

“Yes chief swan – ok Charlie, she’s still here, do you want to talk to her or can I pass a message? Bella is still doing her exercises. Ok I’ll tell her. No it’s not a inconvenience. Goodbye to you too.”

She came back into the Livingroom and said:

“Slowly open your eyes and go back to the first breathing exercise. Your dad called, Billy Black called him and invited him, your sister and you to his house for dinner, so when we’re finished, I’ll show you where it is. Your dad and Sarah will meet you there.”

A bit later we had wrapped up and she gave me the time and date for the next session and showed me where the black residence was. I said:

“I remember what the house looks like from when I came here when I was a kid and still vacationed with Charlie. See you next time.”

She reminded me to do the breathing exercises and meditation every evening before I go to bed, I got in the Behemoth and had to admit to myself that I did feel a little less angry so I probably should try to do what she said. Not much later I arrived at the Black residence and parked the Behemoth next to the cruiser and shut off the deafening engine. I went on the porch and knocked on the door wondering if that was even necessary given they must have heard me arrive.

A man in a wheelchair opened the door and gave me a smile.

“Come in Bella, I don’t know if you recognize me but I’m Billy Black.”

He held out his hand and out of politeness I shook it but I could see in his face that he wasn’t surprised that I had a warm hand, he was expecting it somehow, perhaps Charlie warned him. He looked older but I did recognize him.

“Of course I recognize you, it’s been too long Billy.”

I followed him in where he made introductions and I immediately recognized a couple of old friends:

“Jake! Leah! Long time no see!”

Jacob jumped up all enthusiastically

“Bella! Wow what have they been feeding you over there in Texas? You’re huge!”

Leah came over hugged me and said it was good to see me again and that she had missed me.

“Wow Bella you’re burning up, are you ok?”

Leah said as she let go of me.

“I do tend to run a little hotter than most people, no worries.”

We sat down together with jake drinking soda and catching up, Sarah sat with us occasionally being included in the conversation, Charlie seemed happy and was having a good time. After we had spaghetti for dinner Jake dragged us down to his garage to show the project he was working on.

“So is it true you broke a guys nose and got sent down here as a alternative punishment?”

Jake asked while walking to the garage that was semi hidden from the house.

“Yeah he called me a dirty dike cause I turned his date request down in front of everybody, he was asking for a beating to be honest.”

I noticed Leah looked angry when I had said I’d been called dirty dike but then smiled as I told how it all went down.

Jake revealed his project, he was working on a VW Rabbit so that he would have a car to drive but moaned that he didn’t have the money for parts.

“Are you a good mechanic, Jake?” I asked.

“sure, I rebuilt the engine of that truck you’re driving, didn’t get much from Billy for my troubles though. But I’m glad it’s sold that way I wont have to drive that slow ass truck.”

He said grinning, clearly having the same problem with the behemoth I was having.

“that problem will soon be solved when my Kawasaki Ninja arrives.”

I said with a big smile on my face. “Wow that’s cool Bella, I would love to get a bike too, what model and year is it? Jake asked.

“it’s a 2009 zx6r, goes about 160 mph.”

I answered and Jake was clearly impressed. Sarah excused herself saying she wanted to take a walk on the beach, she clearly wanted some alone time. When she was gone I asked Jake if he was interested in making some money, since I had brought a good chunk of change with me I suggested we could fix up cars and sell them, searching for cars we could make money on of course.

“I’d love to but I don’t have any money to buy cars.” Jake complained.

“Don’t worry about that Jake I got the finances covered but my own skills are limited to taking cars apart and stealing them. I’m not that good at diagnosing and fixing them unless it’s something obvious.” I said.

It was clear we had a deal since Jake was very interested in working on cars and even more in the idea of making some money off of it, though I had noticed them both looking at me strangely when I mentioned being good at stealing cars. We spent the rest of the time catching up until I heard Charlie yelling from the house.

“Kids it’s time for us to leave.”

I said my goodbyes to Jake and Leah promising to be back really soon, they were the only good thing about living in Forks so far. Ran towards the house to tell Charlie.

“Sarah went for a walk on the beach, I’ll go get her and she can ride shotgun with me.”

Charlie had a hopeful look on his face, probably thinking this was progress between Sarah and me. He agreed with my idea provided I did it right away. I ran towards the beach and with my good eyesight had quickly found Sarah sitting on a large driftwood log.

“Hey short cake, Dad has gone home and wants us to head home too so you’re gonna have to ride with me.”

I said to her. When she turned her head it was clear she had been crying, in silence we walked towards the Behemoth, after we got in I started the engine, which fired up with it’s usual thundering roar. Having clearly caught everyone’s attention I waved goodbye to Jake and Leah and noticed Billy glaring at my from a window. I wondered what his problem was and felt my blood starting to boil again and I was shaking. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm me down enough to not go ask him what his problem was, I calmed down enough to be able to drive away. On the road back to forks I said to Sarah.

“You know you don’t have to go through this alone, when you feel like it know that there’s people here for you to talk to.”

Sarah nodded, wiping away her tears. When we got home Sarah said good night to Charlie and Charlie in his social ineptitude didn’t know what to do when he saw she was upset so he let her go to her room. I got a bottle of water from the kitchen and went to go upstairs as well.

“Hold on Bells, please tell me you didn’t cause her to be upset?” Charlie asked.

“Dad she was upset when I found her on the beach!” I snapped at Charlie and went upstairs. In my room I changed into my old sweats and a baggy t shirt and was able to fall asleep once my temper settled.


	2. A working summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm currently in the process of wrapping up chapter 3. I know in this chapter a lot of time passes but I didn't want to have a bunch of filler chapters consisting of Bella and Jake working every day and hanging with Leah. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'll post chapter 3 when I've finished editing and have started on chapter 4.

**Chapter 2**

**Every time I think maybe I'm heading in the right direction,  
I end up in a place I never even knew could feel this bad.**

The next day I got up at 7 and got ready to go running, as I made my way down to the kitchen for some coffee I found Sarah opening the fridge. “Dads gone fishing again. Do you want me to make you breakfast? She asked. “I’m good I’m going to have coffee and go on a long run cross country. I’ll have my phone with me in case you need anything. It’s probably going to be lunchtime when I get back. I responded. She nodded and I realized that unless Charlie gave it to her she probably doesn’t have my number. “Do you have my number?” I asked. “No” she said and I grabbed her phone, added my number to her contacts and sent a text to myself. I noticed that she didn’t have too many contacts in there, after giving her phone back I said “Know we have each others number so if you need anything let me know. I finished my coffee and went out with a bottle of water to take with me.

I ran most of the morning alternating paces, when I ran at full throttle through town I could see some people looking at me with surprise on their faces, probably wondering who I was and how the hell I ran so fast. When I got home before noon I noticed on my smartwatch that I had run a marathon distance. Sarah was in the kitchen, I went in after taking off my running shoes. “What’s cooking short cake? I asked. “Enchiladas with chicken. I made a lot since you skipped breakfast, so I figured you’d be starving after your long run.” She said, when she mentioned starving my stomach rumbled, her face betrayed her when the corners of her mouth went up a little, showing that she enjoyed cooking for me. “Nice, do you mind if I jump in the shower while you put them in the oven? I asked, she said It wasn’t a problem. I went upstairs, grabbed my old sweatpants and a tank top. I quickly jumped in the shower. Having blow-dried my hair I went downstairs while my stomach rumbled again. I quickly sat down at the kitchen table when Sarah pulled a second casserole out of the oven. She set that one on the kitchen table and helped herself to a portion. I served myself to a big helping and started eating. “Really good short cake, thanks for cooking.” I said, once again I noticed the corners of her mouth turning upwards slightly. “You’re welcome, I like to cook anyway so I don’t mind.” She said while she scooped out another enchilada from the casserole. I helped myself to the rest and finished my second serving while she was still eating her second serving, I hungrily eyed the second casserole that was resting on the counter. “You can have that one, Bella. Dad called to say he’ll be back around 6 and that he’ll bring pizza. I’m going to have enough with this.” She said. I immediately got the second casserole and finished that one by myself.

After I did the dishes, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching a couple of comedies that I put on, hoping to keep her in a good mood, poor kid didn’t deserve to be suffering. Halfway through the second movie I went to get a bag of chips and devoured it. As she was eying me devouring the bag I told her that the doctors back home said I have a very high metabolism and all my exercise amplifies it. She seemed to accept that. When Charlie got home he had a medium and a large pizza with him. “I got the large one for you Bells, hopefully it will be enough.” Charlie said. I thanked him and we went to the kitchen to eat. By the time they finished their halves of the medium pizza I had finished my large one. “I gotta admit one thing about Forks dad, at least the pizza is good.” I said. Charlie grinned and quickly went back to eating his pizza then got up to watch a game.

I helped Sarah to clean off the kitchen table and then grabbed one of the few books I brought with me from Houston. I read a complication book of several Sherlock Holmes novel. When I started getting tired I said goodnight and went to bed not needing to change as I was already wearing my old sweatpants and a tank top after my shower earlier.

The next day I went on a early morning run, had breakfast with Charlie and Sarah and nearly wore a hole in the floor from pacing while waiting for the truck with my stuff to arrive. Since Charlie was at work, Sarah helped me carry my stuff upstairs. After unpacking I went to the garage to grab some tools so I could open the crate my motorcycle was shipped in. It was a happy reunion. I reconnected the battery under the seat and checked if the fluid levels were still good. With the crate having been disassembled I put the pieces where Charlie said the trash can go. I ran upstairs to grab my riding boots, leather jacket, helmet and gloves. I called Charlie to inform him that everything arrived and that I was going to go pay Jake a visit and show him my motorcycle. “Be careful Bells and say hi to Billy for me.” I said goodbye and went downstairs. “Short cake I’m gonna go visit Jake, the keys to the behemoth are on the usual hook in case you need it. See you later.” I said before walking out exited to be able to ride again.

I put the key in the ignition, turned it and pressed the start button. My motorcycle started nicely and had a nice rumble coming from the exhaust thanks to the aftermarket exhaust, while she warmed up I put the rest of my gear on. When I got and sat in the familiar position I said to my bike “OK Emiko lets see how fast you can get me to La Push. I got on the road and headed towards la push, in some places I was pushing her to 150 mph. It would have been impossible for me to have been any happier, I loved the feeling of the speed and the high pitched exhaust note. It felt like I was able to fly, like I grew wings and I just was flying through a tunnel of green.

I quickly arrived at Jake’s house, the exhaust announcing my arrival Jake came running out of the garage, I noticed Billy was glaring at me again from a window. I gave him a angry glare back causing him to let go of the curtain. When Jake was done admiring the bike I asked Jake the question that was the result of Billy making my blood boil “Dude why is your dad looking at me so weird, Saturday he didn’t stop glaring at me until we left for the garage then glared again until I drove away and when I arrived just now he was glaring again? Jake looked embarrassed “you noticed that huh… I don’t know, sometimes I think it’s just him getting old. Other times I catch him glaring at me too, like he’s waiting for something.” I decided to let it drop and hung out with Jake while we formalized plans for fixing up cars and selling them. “You really are serious about this, huh Bella?” I answered “Yeah Jake, I need to make money and I can’t get into trouble. I’m living in a house with a cop after all you know. So if you’re as good a mechanic as you say you are, then I’d really like to give this a shot. I’ll pay for the car, parts needed, do the selling and help you as much as I can, you just have to help prevent us from buying cars that we wont make money on and get them running etc.” Jake was sitting there smiling and looking forward to getting started. He pulled out a couple of cokes from his cooler and handed me one. “We should at least toast on the beginning of a beautiful partnership then Bella.” We both opened our cans and said “To Black and Swan automotive!” We spent a bit of time on our phones looking at ads till we found a couple of interesting ones. Tomorrow we’d go look at a few, Jake had a friend who could loan us a flatbed trailer and I was planning to bring cash to close a potential deal more easily.

We went over to the Clearwater house to hang out with Leah and brought her up to speed and let her know that we’d love for her to hang in the garage when we were working. When Leah’s mother Sue came home she too started glaring at me. Noticing I was getting pissed off about it, Jake came to my rescue “oh snap Bella you said you had to be home 20 minutes from now, you better hurry.” At first I was confused but I saw that Jake was looking at Sue and realized he was throwing my a rescue line. “Oh yeah, I’d better go. Bye Jake, bye Leah. See you two tomorrow.” I mouthed a thank you to Jake making sure Sue couldn’t see it and jogged back to Jake’s house. I got on Emiko and started riding, I noticed I was slightly trembling from all the glaring I had to deal with and since I didn’t have to be home for hours I decided to go for a longer ride. I headed towards Port Angeles and stopped just outside town at a gas station to fuel her up, enthusiastic riding wasn’t too great for the fuel consumption and the tank hadn’t been full to begin with. When I went inside to pay I swear I could feel my fake ID burning a whole in my pocket, I didn’t often need it, with my height and build it didn’t happen too often that I got carded. I went to the booze section and got a cheap bottle of vodka and proceeded to the register. The kid working there scanned the bottle and I asked him for 2 packs of Marlboro’s as well, he scanned them too and added it to the fuel bill. I paid in cash and said bye and headed home.

The summer started going by quickly, days in forks started becoming weeks and weeks had turned into more than a month. Jake and I had gotten several cars running and sold, we even had several bought and sold to which we did little more than giving them a cleaning and readvertising with better pictures and better information in the add. We had found out that the people of the Olympic peninsula weren’t particularly good at advertising their used cars, so we had quickly taken advantage of it and had found our niche. We were both doing well financially and with the 25 percent Jake got from the profit he had gotten his rabbit running and was investing in tools. He said the tools would pay for themselves and that he would need them when he started working as a professional mechanic. But his dad, Harry, Sam and a few other kept glaring at me when I was on the rez. I went running every day, some days longer than others. The first few weeks I only did Emily’s breathing exercises a couple of times but after the second session I did them more and after the third I did them every night. I had found the places where I could easily get booze, cigarettes and weed. All had to be gotten out of town of course cause otherwise Charlie would have known. So I always made sure to have an excuse to go out of town by myself, whether it was for hair dye or to pick up a car part Jake needed I always found an excuse. Though there were times I suspected Charlie had the policy the military used to have, Don’t ask and don’t tell. On my difficult days where I was constantly furious and tremoring I needed the weed to take the edge off, the alcohol helped on other days when I just wanted to be knocked out. Due to Charlie’s insistence I called my mom once a week to keep her updated.

Sarah wasn’t getting better, I noticed it and Charlie noticed it, neither of us mentioned it at first but after the first month we talked about it. Charlie wanted to wait and see, he was convinced she just needed more time. It was hard being around her, it had become impossible to get a small smile out of her anymore so I had started to avoid her, except during the meals that we had as a family. The date of my first appointment with Dr. Cullen was coming up, I was dreading it. If any member of this family needed to see a shrink it’s Sarah I had snapped to Charlie when he mentioned the upcoming appointment a few days before the date. That had been a bad moment, Charlie got up and started giving me a lecture about how I shouldn’t say such things, that my therapy was court ordered and thus mandatory and that I should be nicer to my sister. He only stopped because I was shaking with anger so badly that his plate had fallen on the floor from the table shaking.

I hadn’t liked his lecture but I knew deep down I had dished out a low blow, Charlie wasn’t a very emotional and talkative man but I knew he was hurting on the inside over how Sarah was doing and still deliberately dished out a low blow just because he was annoying me. A few more days went by and the evening before the appointment day I had to sneak out to smoke a joint in the woods behind the house to take the edge off. Once back inside I threw my clothes in the laundry and took a quick shower, making sure to scrub well and washed my hair

I woke up at 6 AM, still not in a good space. I had to be at the local hospital at 11 AM I decided to go for a run. I constantly rotated through my running shoes but I had already worn out three pair from all the running I did. I was able to buy them myself of course due to the money I was making with Jake, It made some people jealous that two sixteen year olds were making that much money and Charlie had gotten suspicious. We had played open with him and allowed him to see everything and he had concluded that it was on the up and up, which it was. After my cup of coffee I was getting ready when Charlie came downstair, I said “I know, gotta be there at 11. I’m saying it myself cause you’ll turn blue in the face if you mention it once more.” not giving the still half asleep Charlie the opportunity to reply I quickly went outside and slammed the door shut to further make my point. I didn’t get home till 9 30 AM having run having run a marathon distance, half cross country. It had calmed me down again and got rid of some of my excess energy. I ate breakfast with Sarah who was moping like normal, we didn’t talk much anymore, the pleasantries had made space for habits and silence. I went to take a shower got dressed and hung out in my room till it was time to leave.

I grabbed my motorcycle gear and headed out, I let my motorcycle warm up while getting ready. The ride to the hospital wasn’t too far, of course in Forks, nothing in Forks was too far. Having arrived ahead of time I shut the bike off and got a cigarette out of the compartment under the passenger seat. I smoked it at the smokers area at the hospital entrance. Once finished I went in and headed to the reception. The overtly friendly lady sitting behind the counter looked up and asked “How can I help you dear? That did it, back to being pissed off. “the name is Bella Swan, not dear. I have a appointment with Dr. Cullen.” I snapped at her. She looked into the computer and replied “all your information is in the system already so you can go straight to Dr. Cullen’s office, straight down that hall and once you made the turn it’s the second door on the left. I nodded and followed the directions. Fucking hospital smell I thought while walking. When I got to the door that I was told to go to the plaque said Dr. Carlisle Cullen, trauma surgeon, head of ER. That bitch had better not sent me to the wrong Dr. Cullen I thought before I knocked. “Come in.” I opened the door and asked if he was Dr. Cullen the shrink. “You must be Isabella my 11 oclock. I’m the Dr. Cullen you’re looking for, I have a double speciality, trauma surgery and psychiatry, please come in and take a seat.” He said and pointed to a couple of comfy sofas in the corner of his office. I was kind of in shock, this guy pretty young for a Dr. and well was hotter than most male moviestars, though he was pale and looked a little tired. I chose the sofa that had me with my back to the wall.

He sat down on the opposite sofa with a notebook so he could obviously write down everything I said and didn’t say. “so Isabella –“ he started “I prefer Bella.” I interrupted him.

“OK, Bella how are you feeling today?”

“fine I guess.”

“The court system has made me aware of the incident that led to you being here, do you often get angry?”

“yeah.”

“Why did you find yourself unable to not punch that boy, you were aware that there would be consequences if you did?”

“he had it coming, fuck the consequences.”

This went on and on for almost an hour, I couldn’t bring myself to give long answers. His questions were starting to piss me off, his sincerity and compassionate look didn’t help either. As the end of the session was approaching I couldn’t wait to get out of there. I was getting angrier by the minute and was starting to have tremors, hopefully mild enough that he wouldn’t notice.

“Bella, you don’t like hospitals do you?”

“Absolutely hate them doc, don’t know how you can stand them.”

“well since we’re about finished for today I would like to write you a prescription to help you be calmer until we figure out why you’re so often angry.”

“Unless you’re gonna come force your pills down my throat, you should save a tree.

“Well we’re making progress, two straight answers in a row. How about this instead, since you dislike hospitals I’ll stop treating you here, from our next session forward you’ll have to come to my house, it’s a little bit out of town but the atmosphere will be more relaxing for you.”

Part of me wanted to argue with him, the other part knew that I couldn’t do shit because I wasn’t here by choice. I had in a way made a fresh start, making money the honest way for a change, though Charlie still had suspicions. But the past was still punishing me.

“Fine, give me the address”

He wrote down the address along with directions and a time and date. After handing me the papers he went to the door of his office, calmly waiting for me to collect my stuff and opened it when I got to the door. “see you soon and remember, think calm, act calm.” He said with a genuinely compassionate look on his face. “Whate – sure.” I started to reply but then switched. As I made my way out of the hospital I looked at the date and figured that it was the Friday before school started.

Once home the steady rhythm of running, and working on cars had set back in, Jake was loving it and it started to look like he was starting his final growth spur. Time went by and it was nearly time for the school year to start, of course first another session with the strange Dr. Cullen. Sarah was still the same, moping around the house all day. Though Charlie and I hadn’t spoken about her since I had said that she should be the one in therapy it seemed that we were both in agreement that Sarah needed the change that school would provide.

I had checked the distance and route to Dr. Cullen’s house, it wasn’t too bad so since I was a fairly early appointment I decided to go run there. It had already gotten colder today so with my regular running gear I could easily run fairly fast without breaking a sweat. Cold temperatures never really affected me but I knew from experience that it made people give you weird looks so I made a mental note to go to a sports store or buy a running sweater online. Perhaps I’ll take a trip to Port Angeles this afternoon so I can pick up some other supplies as well, I had ran out of hair dye and booze after all. While considered better for a persons hair the non toxic dye she preferred washed out eventually so every few weeks she had to dye her hair again, which was fine, it made sure she never had much too much outgrowth. I was getting to the turnoff on the 101, I turned off onto what I knew was a long driveway from the instructions. A little along the driveway I slowed my pace to allow my muscles to cool off, I also took advantage of the slower pace to check if my stiletto knife was still in place. Dr. Cullen seemed like a genuine and compassionate man but he was a man after all. As I kept going I noticed there was a clearing up ahead, into my view came a large white mansion, must be the biggest house in forks, guess Dr. Cullen must be doing well for himself. As I approached the porch I noticed the house was old but immaculate, he must have spent a lot of money on it I thought.

I rang the bell after having taken a swig from my water bottle, the door opened and a beautiful woman with caramel colored hair and a heart shaped face appeared, she was as pale as her husband and could just as easily be a movie star. “You must be Isabella, I’m Esme Cullen” she said as she held out her hand. I shook her cold feeling hand as I said “Yes, but I prefer Bella, nice to meet you.” She led me into the house, it was very open and surprisingly more modern then I had thought from the outside, the entire back wall seemed to be made from glass. “Nice house mrs. Cullen.” I said as we came into the huge living room. “Thank you, please call me Esme, Bella. Carlisle will be home soon. Since you’re a little early can I get you anything to drink or a snack? It’s no trouble at all.” She replied. “just some water please.” Then I noticed a guy sitting on the couch with a Xbox controller in his hands, he looked like a very pale version of the hulk. “That’s my son Emmett, Emmett this is Bella.” She said as she walked towards the kitchen. The hulk looked at me and flashed me a big grin. “Care to join for a game?” “I’m good” I replied to the hulk. Esme came back into the living room and handed me a large glass of iced water and let me to an empty couch while Insisting I sat down till Carlisle got home. She sat on the same couch as the Hulk. “So I take it you’ll be attending Forks high? All my children are going there as well. We have adopted Emmett and his other siblings.” She said. “yeah don’t got much other choice, not many schools to pick from around here..” I replied and sipped some of the iced water. She proceeded to entertain me a bit, proposing as well that I’d join the Hulk in a game, I thanked again. I did start to feel safer though. It was clearly a family home and not some out of the way place where Dr. Cullen would lure his victims to if he were up to that kind of stuff. Charlie had talked nothing but good of Dr. Cullen and what a asset he was to the community. But I still preferred to form my own opinions about people.

Shortly after Dr. Cullen arrived. “Bella, nice to see you’re already here I was afraid you would have trouble finding the house.” He said. “I have a excellent sense of direction and it was a nice run.” I replied while he gestured me towards his office. His office looked like it belonged to a college dean like you see in college movies, very classic with plenty of wood. “Do you mind if I put on some background music? Please take any seat you want.” He asked while gesturing to the various seats in the office. “go ahead” I replied while taking a corner seat from where I could see the whole office. Somehow I wasn’t too surprised that he had picked classical sounding music, it fit the whole them off his office after all. The therapy session started and he patiently asked more questions and accepted whatever short or long answers I gave him. There was a strange calming effect from being in his office, it felt nice to not constantly want to punch a hole in the wall or in somebodies face.

After the hour long session was up I was still very calm and relaxed, it was frankly starting to get weird, he gave me a date for the next session and wished me a nice start to the school year and reminded me of think calm, act calm. Must be his catch phrase I though when putting in my now recharged earbuds, I waved goodbye to him and his wife Esme that had joined him at the front door and I started jogging down their driveway. As I was nearing the end I had to jump between the trees or I would have gotten run over by a silver Volvo that was going pretty fast. I jumped back out and barked out “you fucking lunatic!” the car had already stopped and a pale guy with bronze hair got out and said “are you ok? Sorry I’m not used to people running in our drive way.” He said to me. I was feeling my body shake and yelled “sorry doesn’t fucking cut it, watch the fuck out you lunatic!” I turned around and proceeded to run towards the 101 so that I could head home. The guy clearly was one of the Cullens but if he’d mention my behavior it would hopefully land him in trouble too.

The rest of the week passed in a blur, we had sold a car and bought a new one, Jake and I both agreed to continue doing it regularly but that we had to keep up with our homework. Sarah had come with us when we went to look at a car for sale in Port Angeles though it was more of us kidnapping her and we had shopped a little for essentials we needed. we went to a fast food joint for lunch, Jake’s appetite had gotten bigger it seemed. I took another trip to Port Angeles on the way back from the rez after getting started on a new car with Jake. I got a couple of packs of Marlboro’s and a couple of bottles of vodka and a bottle of whiskey. Once home I warmed up dinner in the microwave, It was already 9 PM. Charlie came into the kitchen to quickly ask about my day and reminded my of when school started before quickly going back to watching TV. At least Charlie didn’t hover as a general rule, except for the time being with Sarah, he was worried about her. I was not looking forward to school tomorrow so I ended up downing the whole bottle of whiskey before I fell into a drunken sleep quite late at night.


	3. The new kids at school.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella and Sarah start the school year at their new high school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Since i continue being inspired I'm ready to drop another chapter. Thank you so much for the Kudos received.

**Chapter 3**

**Anger clouds judgment and it makes us**  
do things that we end up regretting.  
Things we can never take back.

I woke up later than usual, with a hangover, something that is unusual for me. I hadn’t gotten a good nights rest, I went down to the kitchen to get a bottle of Gatorade and got some ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I had lost time but I could still go for a short run, I quickly got ready, warmed up with a jog and pulled several miles of hard sprints. When I got back Sarah was making breakfast with Charlie trying to take over muttering that the two of us were doing too much around the house and he was doing too little. I took a quick shower and got dressed for school, the weather was overcast and dry, I decided to wear my black skinny jeans that had a few rips in them paired with a tank top, black boots and my cropped biker jacket over it. My hair I just put in a messy pony tail. Since I was still nursing a hangover I also grabbed a pair of wayfarers on the way out of my room. Breakfast consisted of the usual fair, eggs and bacon, with toast this morning. When we were done we grabbed our back backs and Charlie wished us well on our first day at school. He had specifically requested that we rode together on our first day so we got into the behemoth and headed to the school.

We were a little early so there was plenty of time and space to park the behemoth, I chose a spot on the far edge of the lot. I told Sarah I’d rest a bit before getting out and she stayed with me in the behemoth, probably nervous for her first day. 15 minutes later the lot started filling up and I told Sarah “short cake when schools over we meet back here.” She nodded and we got out. As we closed the doors a Asian kid ran over and said “Hi I’m Eric, you must be the Swan sisters. Welcome to Forks high. Do you need help getting to your first classes?” With the hangover I was nursing I wasn’t in the mood to deal with this overly helpful chess club geek type. “Go bother someone else” I snapped at him while walking away heading towards the school. Sarah and I had only a couple of classes together, trigonometry and PE the latter I looked forwards to and she loathed it due to her ability to trip over her own feet.

I had studied the map we had gotten when Charlie took us to get registered earlier in the summer so I knew where to go for my first class. I took a seat in the back, aside from gesturing I had to take my sunglasses off Mr. Mason the English teacher wasn’t too bad, he didn’t make me introduce myself, next to me the hulk sat down and smiled at me. “well look who we have here.” He said. “Morning” I replied while rubbing my forehead. The rest of the class flew by, even though I sat in the back plenty of students turning their heads to take a peak at me, I gave them a death glare back every time. When the class was over I got up and in the hallway I was clamped onto by a boy that could be best described as a Labrador retriever having taken human form. “Hi I’m Mike, you must be Isabella. Nice tattoo btw. Do you need help getting to your next class?” he asked. “Hi puppy, I prefer Bella and if you don’t get your hand off of me I’ll tear it off your arm.” I replied and he immediately let go of me. “I know where to go puppy, enjoy still having 2 hands.” I heard a bouldering laugh coming from the Hulk and winked at him when we made eye contact causing him to laugh even more. I started walking with the puppy starting at me.

When I made it to trig, Sarah was waiting for me in the hallway, we went in and I led her to the back of the class. A little later a smallish girl came nearly dancing into the classroom, with pixie hair and pale skin, she reminded me of the Cullens I had already met due to her being so similar, the ones I had met were only a little paler than Sarah. My suspicion was confirmed when after our teacher had introduced himself as mr. Varner he had everybody introduce themselves and she had introduced herself as Alice Cullen along with her various interests fashion being the big one. Sarah had been as red as a tomato when she had to introduce herself and barely made it through. When my turn came I stayed seated unlike everyone else and said “Bella Swan” while giving him the death glare to make it clear that was gonna be it. He didn’t want to push my buttons, I assumed all the teachers were aware of my temper problems and he awkwardly started teaching his class I already disliked. After that it was lunch time, I walked with Sarah and noticed I wasn’t the only one getting stared at even after Alice Cullen had danced by us.

After loading a tray and paying for my food I followed Sarah to a table, she had clearly made some acquaintances already. This did include the pimply chess nerd and the puppy. I looked at the puppy as I sat down and said “nice to see you again puppy.” The whole table laughed at puppy Mike’s expense. I started eating and that was the first time we all saw them, both Sarah and I looked at them while a girl that had introduced herself as Jessica named them for us. Alice, Jasper, Edward, Emmet and Rosalie. Rosalie was a tall, though not as tall as me blonde with unparalleled beauty, she was gorgeous in every possible way. Jessica proceeded to add on whatever information and gossip she had on the Cullens. According to her Alice and Jasper were a thing, so were Emmet and Rosalie and Edward didn’t date or thought everybody in school was beneath him. I looked at the Cullens again because I heard them chuckle lightly, Edward had a confused look on his face and Rosalie was giving me a death stare, game on Blondie I thought and I brought out my own death stare, causing her to look away. Satisfied I turned back to eating lunch while Jessica continued gossiping when she mentioned that it was weird they were together another girl that had introduced herself as Angela mentioned that they had all been adopted by dr. Cullen and his wife so they weren’t really siblings. I couldn’t help but think how they all looked so alike in a way despite looking different. After lunch I cleared off my tray and proceeded to my next class biology, I got paired with the nice girl Angela. She was never gonna be my friend but I felt we would get along, even bothered to make some small talk. In Spanish I sat at the back again and on the opposite side sat Rosalie, I couldn’t help myself but take a few good looks at her when I had the opportunity presented itself, whenever she spoke her voice sounded so beautiful and angelic. What a woman I thought to myself, she was also dressed quite beautiful, mostly light tones, with a nice grey jacket and knee high boots.

After Spanish I had PE together with Sarah, I had stretched the school regulations when it came to PE clothing, opting for a white racerback instead of a white t shirt and running shorts. I definitely stood out in the girls locker room, taller than every other girl and clearly way more athletic. I got quite a few jealous looks and it put a grin on my face. When I got in the gym It was clear the hulk was in our PE class again, he eyed me and grinned, yeah I thought, you don’t look to breakable so you’ll be my first choice for being rough with. Coach Clap introduced himself and started explaining the rules of volleyball, the first hour was spent on that and the second hour we got to play, I had been put on the same team as Sarah and puppy Mike. I told Sarah she only had to worry about serving and that I’d cover her position. I loved the challenge and helped my team to the win, we had only suffered a few points against us and to my amusement puppy mike had gotten the ball in his face once. Sarah was worried about him but he assured her that he was fine, pretending to be tougher than he is.

After PE I decided to bag up my normal clothes and run home instead, I asked Sarah if she was fine driving and put my bag in the behemoth and started running, thanks to PE I was still warmed up so no need to start with a jog and I ran from the school like a bat out of hell, everybody was staring at my speed and the easy with which I had jumped the fence, even some of the Cullens had been staring. I took several detours and when I got home Sarah was wrapping up her homework, I sat down with a bottle of Gatorade and started on my own, I asked her how her school day went and she started talking about it, then she mentioned Edward Cullen’s weird behavior in biology and asked If she smelled bad, I leaned over and took a whiff. “you don’t smell bad there’s a hint of strawberries, but he’s a weirdo, he nearly ran me over when I was on the way back from my appointment with Dr. Cullen last week.” I told her, she shrugged, “Thanks for helping me during PE, also why do you call Mike puppy?” “Oh Sarah haven’t you noticed the way he looks at us? He’s a Labrador retriever taken human form, he followed us around like one too, hence I call him puppy.” She laughed, finally I thought to myself a laugh coming out of her again.

After homework I showered and changed back into the clothes I had worn to school, Sarah showered after me. We hung out in the living room I watched tv while Sarah read a book. Charlie had insisted taking us to the diner he liked to go to, but I had in turn insisted we’d meet him there at six, I knew Sarah loathed riding in the cruiser as much as I did. We left in the behemoth a little before six and got a table since Charlie wasn’t there yet. We ordered two cokes while waiting for him. When he arrived he asked how our days went, when Sarah told him about hers he looked at me and I nodded, Charlie and I have a great way of non verbal communication and with that brief interaction he had looked with the question is this going to be the turning point for her and I had nodded to confirm that it would be. We ordered our dinner and I took two entrees after Charlie had told me to order a second plate. A burger and fries and a pasta carbonara. Neither were great but Charlie loved coming here, he had been a bachelor for a very long time now and didn’t have a lot of cooking skills, he was good at the grill but otherwise he was a basic cook. Hence Charlie had always eaten out a lot when he still lived alone.

The following days we started getting settled into the school ritual, I went to jakes for a few hours most evenings. Edward Cullen didn’t return to school, it was upsetting Sarah who was planning to confront him. The schools boys kept trying to get into both our pants, some even came around for second attempts, I kept turning them down, several of them in a brutal fashion. Back home people knew but I wasn’t up for coming out of the closet in this prison called Forks, last thing I needed right now was the warden Charlie turning out to be a homophobe. So don’t ask, don’t tell was the motto. I kept an ear out to try and catch conversations from the Cullens but with all the noise in the cafeteria it wasn’t easy, though I heard bits, apparently Edward had left town and they were hoping he’d be back soon, Alice assured them several times that he’d be back soon. Sarah was getting more frustrated about not being able to confront him. From time to time I’d take a peek at the Cullen table to soak up some more of the beautiful Rosalie Hale, sometimes our eyes crossed and it never took too long for her to give me her now familiar death glare, of course I returned the favour. We still had lunch with the same group, taco Tuesday hadn’t been too bad, but still the food was bland at best, So I always got several pieces of fruit to have at least a few tasty things during lunch. I kept playing both my position and Sarah’s in volleyball, I didn’t mind after all. Finally Friday had rolled around, and we were gonna switch to basketball after Coach Clap had explained the rules on the second hour Thursday.

Finally it was Friday, I got up at my usual time and got ready to go running, I had laid off the booze after having had to nurse a hangover Monday morning. During my early morning run I could as usual see the town coming back to life, loggers leaving their homes early to go to their jobs. When I got back home I was praying Charlie was gonna be playing it safe, he had been insisting to cook breakfast that morning, feeling guilty that he left us to do all the cooking. When I got in he was about to start, I looked into the kitchen to see what he was gonna make. Charlie was reading the instructions on a box of pancake mix, well pancakes and maple syrup I though to myself. I went to take a quick shower and get dressed for the day since id be going straight to Jake’s after school I put on leather riding pants, they were comfortable enough paired with ankle high boots and a old led zeppelin shirt. After grabbing my backpack, my helmet, biker jacket and gloves, I went downstairs to have breakfast. Since Charlie was still making the pancakes I quickly got out the blender and started cutting fruit for a smoothie to offset Charlie’s empty carbs. “Hey dad I’d like to remind you I wont be home after school headed straight to Jake’s I’ll do my homework there.” I said. “Ok Bells, just promise to ride that thing safely, you know how I feel about them.” Charlie said. “Sure, sure” I replied with something I had picked up from Jake. As we sat down for breakfast Sarah joined us and was also reminded she had to drive the Behemoth, while I loathed the slow truck, believing it to be only useful to haul car trailers she loved how safe it made her feel. Sarah left before me, I wolfed down the rest of my pancakes and finished the large smoothie I made. After filling a travel mug with coffee I got ready and went to the garage. After doing my quick checks I went to school on Emiko for the first time. I was still fairly early so I was able to pick a really good spot to park her, when I got off and took my helmet off I gave a death glare to every boy admiring my bike to make it clear she was not to be touched. Staying with her till the warning bell rang I had noticed Rosalie giving a look of approval, well at least to the bike.

Morning classes passed quickly I joined up with Sarah just outside the cafeteria, we waiting in line and got our food eventually. Sitting down at our usual lunch table, I was constantly getting peppered with motorcycle related questions from the Puppy, Eric and Ben. Jessica was clearly not amused with me getting all the attention, so I deliberately kept it going as long as possible. “No Puppy, for the last time you can’t sit on her.” I said to puppy Mike when he asked again if he just once could sit on her. I was started getting annoyed at this point and had a slight tremor going on so I let the motorcycle conversation die out. This was of course to the amusement of Jessica who could then start telling the gossip of the day to the table. While eating I glanced to the Cullen table and noticed Rosalie smiling at me, she quickly changed to her death glare and as usual I returned the favor causing her to look away. I chuckled before finishing lunch.

Of course, after lunch I had biology and was immediately sent to the principals office regarding my outfit. The principal however said nothing was wrong with it as it wasn’t against school regulations, even apologized the school’s lockers didn’t accommodate motorcycle helmets. Principal Harold Greene could after all give Charlie a run for his money when it came to safety. After having lost 25 minutes I returned to biology with the slip Mr banner had given me when he sent me to the principal, having read that it said that he shouldn’t discourage safety equipment for students who travel to school in alternative ways I had a huge smile on my face when I handed it back to him and proceeded to go sit next to Angela who got me quickly caught up with today’s lesson. Mr Banner was awkward for the rest of the class, probably thinking of the scolding he might get from principal Greene. Spanish had rapidly become one of my favorite classes, I couldn’t get enough of hearing Rosalie’s heavenly voice. How do I wish Mrs. Goff would make Rosalie speak the entire class.

As usual Spanish was over far too quickly for my taste, after Rosalie shot out of class I headed to the locker room to get changed looking forward to basketball, Sarah would be fine, she could just stand around. At last my wish was granted and the hulk was in the opposing team, before we started I went over and said “hey Emmet, let’s see how touch you are big guy.” He replied “Be careful, I’m harder than you think” and shot of into his typical bouldering laugh. Coach Clapp quickly went over the various fouls again after the teams had been made and assigned the 4 teams to parts of the gym. As I was the tallest one on my team I was the natural choice for the ball tossup, which I won and I immediately thew the ball from the midline to score 3 points. During the game I focused on Emmet and body checked him several times when coach Clapp wasn’t looking, the Hulk was right, he was pretty hard but it was nothing I couldn’t handle and It helped getting the ball back to my team.

Eventually though I had slipped up when I body checked Emmet again and coach Clapp blew his whistle too loudly for my hearing. “Swan, get off the court, you’re running laps for the remainder of class for that foul!” he said. I shouldn’t have but I couldn’t help myself and with a smile replied “Running? Thanks coach you’re the best!” I replied causing the hulk to go off into one of his familiar bouldering laughs. As I started running coach Clapp also sent off Emmet to run laps around the gym, I increased my pace knowing the big guy would be unable to keep up with me. Every time I lapped him I said “On your left” he grinned every time.

With PE being over I took a quick shower, careful to keep my hair dry and got dressed into my gear, I was ready at the door when the bell went and quickly got my homework from my locker. When I got on the lot my motorcycle was surrounded by admirers, this irritated me slightly, I got furious when I saw John the captain of the football team sitting on Emiko, “WTF ARE YOU DOING SITTING ON MY BIKE!!!” I yelled at him. He laughed thinking it was funny and in my rage I swung my helmet at his head, before I could connect, Emmet had grabbed my arm. Holding my arm firmly he said “you don’t want to do that Bella, he isn’t worth the trouble. Get off her bike now John unless you want a masterclass in why you shouldn’t mess with another persons property.” John, of course his name is John realized how close he came to having his face bashed in and quickly got off Emiko while I gave him the death glare. “That goes for the rest of you too, leave other peoples stuff alone.” Emmet said while looking at them. Everybody dispersed after that and Emmet lowered my arm. “Thanks Emmet, my temper got the better of me. You just saved my ass” I replied while closing my eyes to calm down. “you’re welcome Bella, it happens to the best of us. Ride safe.” He said while letting my arm go and then proceeded towards his family’s car a few spaces over. Rosalie was giving us both a death glare, Jasper didn’t look too happy and Alice was saying to Jasper it was ok.

I quickly got on the bike and left the school parking lot making plenty of noise. Once out of town and on the road to the rez I did a wheelie. Before leaving I had put my earbuds in with some music that usually calmed me down cause I didn’t want to snap at Jake, he deserved better than that. When I arrived at Jake’s house I had calmed down well enough to trust myself around Jake. Billy was in his wheelchair on the porch when I pulled up. Jake had apparently just helped him out of the rabbit and was busy unloading groceries. “Bella will you be staying for dinner? I’ll call Charlie so he and Sarah can make it down too.” This had been the first time he looked at me fairly friendly since he had noticed my temperature when I shook his hand. “I don’t want to be a burden on you Billy, I know I eat a lot.” I replied. “it’s no trouble at all, since you got Jake off his ass making money things have been easier for us. Come on, do this old man a favor.” He said. “Ok, I’ll text Sarah to hold off on dinner till she hears from Charlie.” Billy nodded and wheeled himself inside to help Jake with the groceries. I followed and put my gear away and got my text books out, I preferred that we did our homework where Billy could see it, that way he couldn’t accuse me of being a bad influence on Jake. We both were done quickly with the homework we could do straight away, I had a paper due later next week but I wasn’t worried about it. Billy confirmed that Charlie and Sarah were coming down and Jake and I went to the garage to get started on the car. There wasn’t a lot of work that had to be done, it needed a belt swap + oil change and a good detailing. Jake started on the engine while I started cleaning the interior.

Charlie arrived around six and came to get us from the garage, seemingly glad that we were doing what we said we were doing. We went to Jake’s house where we got cleaned up and had spaghetti and meatballs billy made followed by a chocolate cake Charlie brought from the local bakery. When we were finished eating there was a knock on the door. Billy opened and it was Leah. “Hey do you guys wanna come to the bon fire? Everybody will be there.” She asked to us. Jake and I quickly agreed we weren’t able to continue working tonight anyway and looked to our parental authorities for permission. “Don’t be out too late Bells. Sarah since you came by yourself do you want to go too? He said. “Of course Sarah should come.” Leah quickly said. Sarah agreed and the 4 off us went up to the cliff where the bonfire was. I recognized Emily, Sam, Paul and Jared and greeted them. The bonfire was fun and there were plenty of snacks, which was a good thing since Billy had slightly underestimated my appetite and Charlie had bought the smallest cake the store had. Sam entertained us by telling legends from the Quilette tribe, I noticed I got several glares from time to time and breathed the way Emily had taught me to avoid getting annoyed by it. Around 11 PM we all decided to go home. I rode behind Sarah to make sure she got home safe and because it may make Charlie happy if we got home together. We quickly got there and unloaded our stuff, Sarah confirmed she had a good time and we said goodnight to Charlie who was half asleep in front of the TV.

The following day I had a 9 AM appointment with Dr. Cullen. So at first the usual routine, I had to get to Jake’s afterwards so I went to the Cullen’s house by motorcycle after my usual morning routine, I had run a half marathon and a huge breakfast. Pretty soon I made the turn off the 101 and was riding on the Cullen’s long drive, hopefully Edward wasn’t back and I wouldn’t get run over. While riding I wondered if the hulk would’ve mentioned the incident on the school parking lot Friday, maybe I should fess up before Dr. Cullen get’s a chance to bring it up himself. Having parked just off the porch I shut down the engine and got off Emiko. Before I could get my helmet off, Dr. Cullen’s wife Esme had already opened the front door. Of course with the loud exhaust my arrival was always made know wherever I went. After quickly taking my helmet off and earbuds out, I had been listening to Volbeat on the way over, I went to the front door. “Good morning Bella, please come in.” she said as she made room for me to pass. “Good morning Mrs Cullen, sorry Esme.” Correcting myself as I went inside. “Can I get you anything, dear?” she asked. Whenever somebody called me dear it generally pissed me off but somehow Esme could get away with it, how could anyone get mad at such a genuinely loving and sweet woman, she must be made from molasses. “I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee, if it’s no bother.” I replied. “Of course it’s no bother, you can go ahead to Carlisle’s office, I’ll bring it right in.” she said. I proceeded to Dr. Cullen’s office, giving a wave to the Hulk who was surprise surprise playing a game again and there she was on the couch, the lovely Rosalie Hale reading a book. I nearly ran into the doorframe of Dr. Cullen’s office due to my staring, with a blush on my cheeks I quickly went into the office hearing a small chuckle coming from the Hulk. I went over to sit in the seat I had previously used after taking off my back pack and riding jacket setting them aside with my helmet.

Shortly after, Dr. Cullen came in followed by Esme who was carrying a tray with a coffee mug and a large muffin, she set it down on the small table next to my seat. “in case you get hungry and want a snack. I gave her a smile and my thanks. Dr. Cullen sat down as well and while Esme was on her way out I made up my mind to fess up, better be honest about this I thought.

“Emmett probably told you but I lost my shit yesterday and would’ve hit somebody with my helmet if he hadn’t stopped me.”

“My son hasn’t mentioned it, would you like to say more about it? Why did you feel the need to hit somebody with your helmet?”

I wondered why he hadn’t said anything, thought back on yesterday’s event and proceded to tell Dr. Cullen.

“Well yesterday I went to school with Emiko, sorry my motorcycle, for the first time cause I had somewhere to go after school. When school was over there was a small crowd surrounding my bike, which made me a little nervous but I was generally fine with. When I got closer though I noticed John the captain of the football team was sitting on Emiko. It made me furious that he was so disrespectful towards my property. So on instinct I pushed through the small crowd, yelled at him ‘wtf are you doing sitting on my bike’ and swung my helmet at his head. That’s when Emmett intervened and grabbed my arm mid swing to prevent me from hitting John. He said ‘You don’t want to do this Bella’ made john get off my bike and warned everybody that they should leave other peoples stuff alone. I started calming down and thanked him for saving my ass and was able to leave the school without further incident. I had a nice evening afterwards with friends and Sarah.”

I took a sip of coffee while Dr. Cullen was still making notes.

“When you have these outbursts shall we say, do you always act on instinct like that?

“No, not really. I made up my mind that John had it coming to him before I switched to instinct, of course I was pretty pissed off when I made up my mind.”

Most of the rest of the session was spent on mainly talking about what had happened and how I felt about it, strangely I once again felt super calm in Dr. Cullens home. The blueberry muffin had been absolutely delicious, the coffee was good too.

“Bella can you tell me anything significant from you childhood that made you angry, something your parents might have called you throwing a temper tantrum or hissy fit?

“I don’t know, I guess I don’t really remember my childhood.”

“At all?”

“Yeah, guess it wasn’t important enough for me to remember.”

Dr. Cullen was taking significant notes.

“So what are your plans for the weekend?”

“I’m headed to the rez after our session to hang with friends and work.”

“You got a job on the Quilette reservation?”

“Not really, my friend Jake and I have a little business of buying and fixing cars, he’s a decent mechanic and our parents are ok with it as long as we get our homework done. We’ve made a lot of scratch over the summer, the people of the Olympic peninsula don’t know how to properly advertise their cars it seems.”

“My daughter Rosalie likes working on cars too, she’s not in the buying and selling market though. Well I think we’ll call it and end for today, I hope you’ll enjoy your weekend.”

While I picked up my stuff and put my riding jacket on, Dr. Cullen wrote a time and date on a appointment card and handed it to me. “I’ll be seeing you again in two weeks, take care and remember to think calm and act calm Bella. No more outbursts, even when somebody disrespects you or your property.” He said while walking me out of his office. Once outside his office Esme appeared and took over leading me out of the house. I took a quick glance, Rosalie was no longer in the living room, Alice and a very tired looking Jasper sat on a couch, I heard her whisper to him that it was gonna be ok soon. Emmett was still sitting on the couch facing the TV. “Hey Bella, wont you stay for a game, nobody wants to play with me?” he asked. “Sorry big guy, I got places to go and things do to.” I replied. “Maybe next time then.” I heard him say. At the front door I thanked Esme for the coffee and the delicious muffin. “you’re welcome dear, glad you enjoyed it, ride safe.”

I got ready and rode away from the Cullen mansion still feeling weirdly calm, Esme waved me off. As I rode over to the rez I felt my usual anger gradually coming back. I spent the rest of the day with jake, doing a parts run and working on the car, we had sandwiches for lunch from jakes house and I treated us to pizza in the evening since billy had to attend a council meeting and was going to have dinner at the Clearwaters. I got home at around 10 PM, after a quick conversation with Charlie about how my day was I went upstairs to shower and went to bed. Sunday I had my usual morning routine followed by heading over to the rez. Jake and I got the car wrapped up and I took pictures and made an advert online with all the relevant information. We both got caught up with our homework and spent the afternoon hanging with Leah. Getting home in time for the family Sunday dinner, Sarah had made a roast with roasted vegetables and potatoes. Once stuffed I called my mom after which Sarah and I watched some Netflix in my room, cause Charlie wanted to watch a game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work on chapter 4 has started so wont be too long.


	4. I see red.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella discovers some things about the Cullen family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody, thanks for the reactions, I have another chapter finished. If anyone dislikes the amount of time that passes in the chapters I promise that I plan to start slowing things down in future chapters, I just didn't want a bunch of filler chapters at this point in between the more important stuff. at this point Bella's life had a routine to it, every day is pretty much the same, she hangs with the same people, does the same things and that would get boring soon.

**Chapter 4**

**Rage is a hell of an anesthetic.**

The weeks started flying by, to Sarah’s delight Edward had returned to school and he was talking to her. Occasional at first but near the end of the month it had been increasing, I don’t like Edward, I don’t know why yet but I wish he had stayed away from school or would at least stay away from my sister. The flip side of the coin is Sarah seems to be getting better. I had a couple more sessions with Dr. Cullen, he continually tried to dig into my childhood, I wanted to get frustrated every time he did but found myself unable to. I was getting better at controlling my anger thanks to the Sessions with Emily, I nearly meditated every evening now, I was still angry of course but being less on edge made life a little easier and now that things were going well I had gotten determined to stay out of trouble. The Cullen’s occasionally missed school, word in school was they always did that on sunny days to go hiking. But summer was definitely coming to an end, sunny days had become few and far between. I had had a nice birthday, small event at home with Jake, Leah, her brother Seth and their respective parents, Charlie had a good time manning the grill, he only burned one piece of meat so there weren’t any disasters, for the occasion we had set up benches and a fire pit in Charlie’s back yard. At school I still often found myself distracted by Rosalie Hale, during PE I still regularly got rough with Emmett who enjoyed it as much as I did, I had found that even though he looked like the Hulk he was also a big teddy bear, especially after he grabbed me again after coach Clapp blew his whistle causing me pain to my hearing and I wanted to shove his whistle up his ass. Alice gave me compliments on various outfits I wore to school and made small talk before and after the classes we had together.

Jake and I had still been doing well financially after school so since it was October already I decided it was time to get a car, that way Emiko could stay in the garage during winter and I could still drive faster than the behemoth allowed. I had started looking at various options and talked to Jake about a potential option, a car that was wrecked but could fairly easily be fixed. Eventually I came across a auction ad for a Nissan 370z. it had some damage and some parts were missing, but it had potential, Jake, Leah and I had taken a day trip to Tacoma in the rabbit so that Jake could have a good look at it. He gave the go ahead and we had a good time for the rest of the day, it was always easy having a good time with Jake and Leah, there weren’t any walls between us, they were like family to me. Now we were on our way back home, Jake was going to drop me off and I had to break the news to Charlie. Due to this type of auction I couldn’t buy the car myself, Charlie had to buy it for me since he’s an adult. Even though recently a new fake ID bought off the deep web had arrived I wasn’t willing to take chances with this. Better keep it honest this time. So once Jake dropped me off and I said goodbye to Jake and Leah I went inside to speak with Charlie armed with a bucket of arguments in favor and a list of the parts we’d need.

“Did you guys have a good time?” Charlie asked as I got in with my couple of bags, did a little shopping after all while we were there. “Yeah we had a great time, Jake didn’t make too much of a fuss when we were shopping. So dad we need to talk about me buying a car, I found one and we took a good look at it today and need your help to buy it.” I said as I put my bags down and took a seat on the sofa. “I can pitch in a little money Bells, I had been planning to help you buy one anyway so you and Sarah don’t have to share anymore.” Charlie replied while surprisingly ignoring the game on the tv. “Well I don’t need any money, I can pay for it from the money I’ve made the past months with Jake. Here’s the thing, the car was in a accident and is being auctioned, so I can’t buy it since I’m not 18 yet. Well have to get it inspected after the damage is fixed by the state of course so that we can get a new title, so you don’t have to worry about me driving a death trap.” After going back and forth a bit and having shown the car on my laptop we had finally agreed that I’d pay for the car and everything it needs and Charlie would financially compensate Jake for his time, stubbornness was a Swan family trait after all. We planned to go to the auction together in person, of course it meant a trip in the cruiser but it was worth it if we got the car for under the price limit Jake had set.

On Sunday we all got in the cruiser and drove to Tacoma to attend the auction, after seeing the car in person Charlie had to be reassured by Jake that it looked way worse than it was and that we’d be upgrading certain parts anyway to make the car safer on the road. Sarah and I both had to cover our mouth to prevent from laughing when we saw how Charlie was like putty in Jake’s hands when it came to cars. The Nissan 370 Z was gonna be auctioned early so Charlie went to register and we hung around looking at some other cars, when the auction started time starting going by quicker. Eventually we got to the Nissan, I told Charlie to hold off putting up his number. A couple of semi interested people bid first, one being a online bidder the price was now at 750 dollars, I told Charlie to raise his number and do a 1 and 5 gesture with his free hand. The auctioneer caught it and did his best to get more than 1500 out of it and eventually sold the car, we got it for well under the price Jake had set as the max. “wow that was exciting! I can’t believe we pulled it off!” I joyfully said loudly when we left the auction after having paid for the car, the auction fees and having arranged the transport. We spent some time in Tacoma and had Dinner there which I insisted on paying for since Charlie had paid for the gas and started the 3 hour drive back to forks. On the way back Jake and I got into work mode and started ordering parts online, some we kept quiet, not wanting Charlie to know we were gonna build this car into a turbo charged monster.

Monday at school Edward had invited Sarah to sit with him at a small lunch table, neither his family, with the exception of Alice or I were happy with this from the looks of it, of course everybody at our table was talking about it, I dodged several questions regarding it. I couldn’t help shake the feeling I had regarding Edward but it was Sarah’s mistake to make if she would make one. The gossip coming out of Jessica’s mouth made it hard to focus but I could hear Edward constantly peppering Sarah with questions. This continued the following days. On Thursday after school I decided to confront Sarah. “So you and Edward Cullen get along all of a sudden? I though he hated you?” I said. “It was a misunderstanding, Edward hadn’t been feeling well when we first met. He’s a nice guy really.” She replied. “I don’t trust him Sarah, something feels weird about him, just promise me that you’ll be careful.” I said. Sarah looked accusatory at me and asked “are you jealous that he speaks to me and not to you?!” I started laughing making her even more upset, when I somewhat recovered I said “Look Sarah, you can’t tell dad but you and I play for a different team, so you’ll never have to worry about me trying to steal your love interests. I just want you to be safe.” Sarah had a confused look on her face at first then replied “Oh, oh! I wont tell dad and I’ll be safe don’t worry.” We did our homework and started cooking dinner. After dinner I checked the weather report and decided to go to school on Friday by way of motorcycle since it was supposed to be dry and sunny, probably for the last time this year that we’d get both and I wanted to head to Jake’s straight after, my car was being delivered and we had a buyer coming for the car we had worked on. Friday at school was uneventful aside from the Cullens being absent. I missed Emmett during PE, he had become somebody I started growing attached to, I loved that he wasn’t as breakable as the rest of the students and he had been a life saver several time. Sarah had been peppered by Jessica during lunch with questions about Edward until Angela had intervened and switched the conversation to the trip the table group had planned to La Push, she once again invited me but I stated again that I was gonna be down there anyway and might drop by with my friends.

My car had already gotten delivered when I got to Jake’s, we did our homework and started taking it apart to get all the damaged pieces off, some of the new parts had already arrived. Billy had yelled from the porch to get our attention, he then informed us that Charlie and Sarah were coming over for dinner. It started to seem that the man that once eyed me with suspicion had grown to maybe trust me. After dinner we went back to working on my car and the lady who had called about the car we had for sale came to check It out and we ended up getting a good price for it. Charlie had been present during the sale and was impressed, it seemed he finally started to truly believe we were running a genuine car flipping operation. I gave Jake his usual 25 percent of the profit and we continued working on my car until it was getting late. Saturday after my morning routine I once again headed to La Push, did some homework with Jake and then I looked for new leads on cars. Jake and I had decided, mainly at my insistence that we’d only work part time on my car. In the afternoon Leah came over and I suggested hanging out with the lunch table group for a bit. We stopped by the Alteara family general store store to pick up lunch for Jake and I. Down at the beach we had quickly found the group and hung out for a bit till people started splitting up for various activities and Jake had had enough of Jessica nearly harassing him. We continued work on my car and Leah stuck around reading a book till dinner time. As we often did on Saturdays we got pizza to eat while working. We had made decent progress by the time we called it a night. Sunday was spent working on my car again, we went to look at a car for sale but had quickly determined it was a bust based of the condition and the unrealistic asking price.

School went by as usual, an evening with Jake here and there till Friday, Sarah and I went to school together in the behemoth since the day of good weather the week before had demanded to be repaid ten fold, it was pouring insane amounts of rain, I hadn’t even seen it rain that much in Houston during tropical storms. After parking the behemoth in it’s usual spot we got out of the car when Tyler Crowley, a kid who often sat at our table came skidding towards the behemoth having lost control of his van, he was coming right at me since I had been driving. I did the only thing I could do and used all my strength and reflexes to jump in the bed of the truck, knowing it was the only chance I had. Tyler’s van hit one of my feet hard, great my foot is broken I thought, when I crawled to the other side of the bed I found Edward leaning over Sarah, she had gotten bumped by the truck and hit her head when she fell according to Edward. “Where the hell did you come from, Edward? You were standing on the other side of the parking lot?” I asked him. “You must have hit your head too, Bella. I was standing right here.” He replied. Liar I thought, soon several ambulances arrived, the concerned students and teachers had of course called 911 en masse. Sarah had been strapped to a gurney, but like Edward I had refused and I rode shotgun in Sarah's ambulance.

At the hospital Sarah, Tyler and me had been taken into the ER and were taken to beds, after a couple of minutes Sarah and I were taken to radiology and were now back in the ER. Charlie came storming in worried out of his mind, while talking to us Tyler in the bed over kept apologizing and was hoping we were ok. Charlie kept threatening that he’d take Tyler’s license away. Eventually Charlie settled for closing the dividing curtain between Tyler’s bed and ours. A little later Dr. Cullen came in, I wasn’t surprised it was his department after all, he started with checking over Sarah and told her to stay home and take it easy for a couple of days. “let’s see what shape your foot it in, Bella.” Dr Cullen said while he put my Xray’s on the viewing screen. “Looks good, nothing appears to be broken, I’ll take your boot back off to check for swelling and to see if you have a sprain.” He said, and proceeded to take my boot and sock off in a swift motion. That’s when I realized something was off, when his hands touched my bare foot his hands were cold, not just cold but ice cold. i flinched and pulled my foot back, he noticed. “Sorry I have bad circulation in my hands.” He said with a smile on his face. “Well seems like a minor sprain, you got lucky, just take it easy for the next couple of days, ice it and you should be fine.” He said and proceeded to wrap my foot with elastic bandage, then he turned to Charlie to inform him we both could go home and proceeded to go check on Tyler. After getting my sock and boot back on, the three of us walked out of the ER to find almost the entire school waiting for us. We assured everybody that we were fine and were finally able to get out and Charlie took us home.

Sarah and I both took it easy the next couple of days, my sprain was healed before the evening but I was so wrapped up in my mind that I took advantage of staying home a second day. I knew Edward had lied, he was nowhere near the truck when the accident happened, Dr Cullen’s hands were ice cold and then I mulled over the stories Sam had told at the bonfire, stories I had heard from Billy and Harry Clearwater when he was still alive when I visited as a kid. I just couldn’t be sure that the Cullens were the cold ones they had talked about but I knew several things, the Cullens weren’t human, the Cullens could not be trusted, I had to protect Sarah and do what I could to drive a wedge between Sarah and Edward. After a couple of days at home I went back to school, Sarah still wasn’t feeling all that well so she stayed home another day. I deliberately touched Emmett during our English class to confirm my suspicion, he was ice cold as well. He looked surprised but didn’t make a mention of it. During lunch I got angrier and angrier whenever I looked at Edward, I was trembling when I got up and walked over to the Cullen table. I gave Edward the death glare while I said “I don’t know what your intentions are with my sister but if you hurt her I will beat the living shit out of you, if you break her heart I will break your neck.” I walked away before he had the chance to recover, the nearby tables had been staring at me but I shot them down with death glares. Life quickly went back to normal, Edward was being more distant with Sarah, and sat back with his family during lunch. Managed to get a new car to get ready to sell with Jake and we worked on that one as well as on mine during the weekend, progress was going well, we were in damage repair mode and Jake had assigned me to prepping the Amuse body kit while he was cutting and welding. It was clear Jake held as much interest in going to college as I did, so perhaps we could do this professionally when we were done with school, Billy had even suggested it jokingly during the Friday night dinner with Charlie, Sarah, Sue, Seth and Leah Clearwater that had become a tradition at this point. I had therapy with Dr Cullen on Saturday but that had been a complete nothing burger, I had shut down completely and barely gave any answers.

The next week was uneventful, the fall dance was coming up, neither Sarah or me held any interest in going but Sarah had agreed to go help Jessica and Angela with dress shopping on Thursday, something that was slightly out of character for her. They left straight after school, I had made arrangements with Charlie and spent the remainder of the afternoon and early evening at the rez. The biggest piece we bought for the Nissan had arrived today, a half roll cage to stiffen up the car and give a place to attach the racing harnesses to. Since It was a school night I got home at around 830 pm, Sarah wasn’t home yet. I was reading a book for English when a silver Volvo stopped in front of the house and Sarah got out. I dropped the book and went downstairs and found Sarah in the kitchen. “I thought you were going to Port Angeles with Jessica and Angela?” I confronted her. “I did but I went to look for a book store and got lost. Then Edward ran into me and took me to dinner.” She replied. My gut told me she was holding back. “Sarah, Edward cant be trusted, you need to keep your distance from him.” I told her. “You don’t tell me what to do Bella, you’re not my parent!” she yelled and ran upstairs. Friday she was sitting with Edward again much to the chagrin of myself and several members of his family.

As the weeks passed I grew increasingly shorter fused, I meditated longer and longer but had to resort to smoking weed daily to keep myself somewhat in check. Charlie had noticed I had become irritable and made sure not to push any buttons. Everybody at school gave me a wide birth too, it was obvious that I was a ticking time bomb, I kept watch around the house for a few hours after Sarah went to bed, I swore I heard movement after dark. The only place I felt somewhat calm was at the rez, whether it was with Jake, Leah or the sessions with Emily didn’t matter, I had a strange feeling of safety there and spent every moment over there. Edward had started picking Sarah up to drive her to school on a near daily basis. Only once he didn’t cause the Cullens were supposedly hiking again due to a break in the weather, it hadn’t been warm but it wasn’t overcast for a change. Multiple coffee mugs had been sacrificed when I slammed them on the table when Edward had honked his horn when he had started picking up Sarah. Charlie had been understanding cause he also thought it was incredibly rude but had started to remind me that it was almost time every morning after the third broken mug. Billy had been looking worried lately whenever I arrived tremoring and angry when I got to the rez, he asked me several times what was troubling me, I had always shrugged it off until I finally gave an honest answer to the last person I would have ever considered a confidant. “Sarah and Edward Cullen are hanging out together, he takes her to school every day and hangs around my house after, that’s why I’ve been spending all my time here. I cant stand him, he cant be trusted, she needs to stay away from him. He’s dangerous, he’s controlling, I swear I can hear sounds around the house after dark. I blurted out. It was relieving to finally get some of the built up frustration off my chest. “ I agree, she should stay away from him, the Cullens are dangerous Bella, never forget that.” Billy replied, the concern for Sarah on his face obvious. At least I have found an ally, I know knew there was one person that agreed with me. For several days I had felt relieved, during the weekend I had another therapy session with Dr Cullen, as the end of a long session approached I had snapped out I didn’t like the way his son was hanging out with my sister and got up and left, the compassionate look on his face no longer affected me at all. When I got home from the rez, the refuge I had sought after the session Charlie informed me that Dr Cullen had called, I felt the tremors starting again and threatening to turn into full on shaking when Charlie continued and informed me that Dr. Cullen had decided that I needed a break from therapy for a while and had already informed the courts, he would remain available on the phone if I ever felt the need to talk.

We were approaching the school break for thanksgiving. I was nearly patrolling around the house at night a this point, even set alarms at random times to check around the house. Sarah had mentioned that Edward was going to take her to meet his parents and it had made me angrier and more anxious than ever before. During one of my middle of the night patrols I found footprints between a couple of tree’s, they were fairly recent and I knew I was right, somebody was watching. I couldn’t give in now, I’d patrol all night from now on if I had to. Since my car was moving to the body shop for painting the body with the fresh body kit and spoiler Jake and I had free time on our hand. I physically couldn’t give up on Jake time so hung out with him and Leah, having fallen asleep on Jake’s couch I was awoken in the morning by Billy who didn’t want me to be late for school, he had called Charlie the night before to inform him and Charlie had told him to let me sleep. I realized Charlie knew I was sleep deprived and it felt good to have gotten a good night of sleep but I felt bad I hadn’t patrolled around the house. I made it to school in time, for once wearing the same outfit. I didn’t pay much attention to class, I was too busy thinking I decided that I had to switch strategy since I was a wreck walking around. A good nights sleep had only made a dent in the severe sleep deprivation I had going on. I was shaking most of the time these days, there were moments where I felt like I was gonna tear apart and turn inside out. We had a family thanksgiving dinner, I had run a marathon distance that day and smoked a day time joint in the woods behind Charlie’s house so I was sort of ok, and angry calm if you will.

That evening I came up with the idea to sit in the dining room after everybody went to bed to keep watch for a few hours, it offered a near full view of the side of the house Sarah’s bedroom was located in after all. As I was about to doze off a shadow on the tree line caught my attention, I snapped awake and ran outside with Charlie’s baseball bat. By the time I got to the tree line it was already too late whoever, whatever was there was already gone. Satisfied that the threat was gone for now I went to bed, and slept for 9 hours. I talked about it with Billy when I went over to the rez. “You shouldn’t worry that much Bella, it probably was just an animal you saw. You shouldn’t go out into the woods alone around here, especially at night.” He said but I noticed the worried look on his face. While working with Jake I started wondering if I was overreacting, maybe I was going insane, I was severely sleep deprived after all. When I went home, I noticed Charlie’s cruiser parked outside the Clearwater’s house. I didn’t think anything of it and frankly needed to clear my mind, I took a long detour riding my motorcycle hard. Something happens at around 100 miles an hour, the loud exhaust drowns out all sound, engine vibrations travel at a heart's rate, field of vision funnels into the immediate and suddenly you're not on the road, you're in it. A part of it. Traffic, scenery just become cardboard cut-outs blowing over as you pass. I had forgotten the rush of that. Instantly I was reminded of why I love these long rides. All your problems, all the noise, gone. Nothing else to worry about except what's right in front of you. Maybe that's the lesson for me today, to hold on to these simple moments. Appreciate them a little more, there's not many of them left. Finding things that make you happy shouldn't be so hard. By the time I got home the cruiser was already parked and I felt better. I decided to go straight to bed even though It was still fairly early.

I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom, I decided to check on Sarah as I walked back to my room, that’s when I saw him sitting in a rocking chair that was in the corner of her room while Sarah was sleeping. In a blur he got out of the window and ran off before I could say or do anything. The shaking started immediately, Edward watching my sister sleep, Edward was in her bedroom, Edward wasn’t human. Whatever happened I had to put a stop to this. I threw a jacket over my old sweats and t shirt sleeping attire and get in the behemoth, the time to confront Edward had come, no matter what he was, no matter the cost. I was shaking badly as I drove over to the Cullen mansion, my body felt as if it was on fire. I had to focus to be able to drive normally. I turned off the 101 and drove up the long road to the mansion, I swore I saw a blur passing when I was half way. Somehow I was not surprised to see the inside of the house fully lit, I parked, got out and headed straight to the front door, I was prepared to kick it in if I had to. When I got to the door Dr Cullen opened it with a apologetical look on his face.

“bring him out or I’m coming in!”

“Bella please allow us to explain a few things to you.”

I nudged my way past Dr Cullen, to find Edward standing in the living room.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING IN MY SISTERS ROOM YOU CREEP?!!!”

“Bella it’s not what it looks like.” Edward said.

I got right in his face.

“WHAT IS IT SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE CREEP? YOU WERE WATCHING HER SLEEP IN HER BEDROOM!!!”

The shaking got so bad I felt like I was tearing apart again.

“Bella, I’m in love with your sister, I would never harm her.”

“LOVE MY SISTER? YOU AND YOUR SUPPOSED FAMILY ARENT EVEN HUMAN! YOU’RE A FREAK!”

“Bella I…”

While he was talking I snapped and jumped at him and started punching him in the face while we were on our way down, I punched with all my strength and I could see cracks appearing in Edwards face, everything around me went red, all I saw was red and I kept punching till I was pulled off of him.

“Calm down Bella we can talk about this.” Dr. Cullen said.

I felt my bones break, I knew it wasn’t from being held as it was different bones breaking and the bones were moving, stretching and healing. My body turned inside out and just before I exploded I heard multiple voices saying: let go of her, be careful, get a phone.” I found myself taller than ever, I was standing on my hands and feet though they didn’t feel like hands and feet, I heard vicious growling and realized it came from my chest, Edward looked as if he was in shock, I looked around me and saw several items destroyed in the house. Everything was coming in so quickly, my anger faded as childhood memories came flooding back in. Rapidly the memories replaced the anger with pain, pain on the inside, I had not been touched since I had let been go off. I had to get out I couldn’t deal with being here anymore so I ran for the open glass windows in the back of the house, jumped off the balcony and ran into the woods howling in pain.


	5. it's just us now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of inspiration come to me. hope you guys enjoy, thank you for the kudos and comments.

**Chapter 5**

**Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls,  
the most massive characters are seared with scars.  
My dark days made me stronger.  
Or maybe I already was strong  
and they made me prove it.**

For days I wandered through the woods around forks, wallowing in pain as the memories kept going through my head, wondering if I had finally gone insane before realizing from my memories what I had become, I had turned into a Wolf again. Only this time there were other wolves, they had chased me, I had to fight them off. When I sat outside Charlie’s house, I could hear him inside calling around, giving directions to people that were looking for me, the behemoth was parked in front, as far as Charlie knew I had just disappeared in the middle of the night. Every time I sat outside the house to watch over him and Sarah I heard both of them worrying about me more increasingly. Sarah had agreed to still go to the Cullen house with Edward, saying that she needed the distraction. I followed them and sat in the woods outside the Cullen house, it took every ounce of strength I had left to not run in there and attack them. While waiting outside the Cullen mansion the other wolves had returned. I could hear them, but this time I could feel them as well. I had to run for it again and fight them off again, the biggest one was black, though not as black as me. I knew they were like me, they had to be, these were no ordinary sized wolves. As time passed I could more easily sense where the other large wolves were, and it had become easier for me to avoid them from getting to me. The speed with which I could run was astonishing. I started hearing a voice in my head, a man’s voice that told me I could take human form again if I focused on it. I recognized that voice from a memory that had returned, the pain associated with some of the memories was almost too much to bear. I had been on my feet, paws rather for days and was feeling worn out.

I headed back to Charlie’s for my nightly watch, I sensed the other wolves were nowhere near. The voice once again spoke to me “Focus on getting back into your human form Bella, you know you have done this before.” In the woods outside Charlie’s house, I heard Sarah arguing with Charlie. There were Cullens nearby, I was about to come out of the woods when I heard her shout “You got to let me go Charlie, I can’t stand it anymore!” she ran toward the behemoth, got in and drove away. I followed her, soon she was joined in the behemoth by Edward, who took over driving. Not much later Emmet jumped in the behemoth’s bed and Alice was following them in the Jeep Emmett and Jasper sometimes drove to school. I had to find out what they were planning, they might be strong, and strangely hard but I had found out this wolf form was strong too, at least if this was real, I’d have a chance at rescuing Sarah if the worst came to come, hopefully not traumatizing her in the process, there would be no way she would recognize me in this form and I hadn’t been focusing on changing back to my human form. As they drove up the long drive to their house, I carefully looked at the 101 highway before making my crossing. I carefully and slowly crept towards the mansion, my ears tuned towards the house, if I had unusually good hearing before then now I had exceptionally good hearing. There was a stench around the house that burned my nose, it had a sickening sweetness to it. Never before had I smelled something like that around the Cullen house but I recalled a similar sickening sweet smell burning my nose in one of my painful memories. I heard conversations in the Cullen house, It was a rapid discussion, I had to focus. They were planning to take Sarah away, she was in danger. Weren’t they the danger, I wondered.

As I kept getting closer I looked around and saw a blur to my right. “Danger” the male voice in my head said. I growled and took off running toward the blur. When I was almost close enough the blur stopped, it was a man with blonde hair, as pale as the Cullens and he had red eyes. I had seen such eyes before. I kept charging, planning to run into him. Just before I would have hit him, he side stepped and hit me in the head, I staggered to a stop and turned around to catch him running away. I chased him, instinctively I led him towards the Cullen house by running towards his left. I growled while chasing, no longer caring what noise I was making, I wanted him dead. As we got to the house the garage door opened and then it happened, he got a hold of Sarah, as soon as he bit her she started screaming in pain. Emmett and Jasper had grabbed the blonde guy leading him outside. As I saw my chance I jumped in the air and grabbed his head with my large mouth, instinct led me to using my weight and momentum to remove the head from his body. I turned to look at Sarah who was in pain, I howled in pain for my sister. Dr Cullen was giving Edward options, when he said you could let the change happen I growled and got closer, when he said you can try to suck the venom out I barked thinking that’s the one. Edward put his disgusting mouth over the wound on my sister’s arm and started sucking. I turned my head away when Japer and Emmett lighting the body of the blonde one on fire caught my attention. My attention turned back to Sarah when Dr. Cullen said “Her blood is clear, you’re killing her Edward! Find the will to stop!” I growled and ran toward Edward, as I got close he turned towards me and his eyes were black. When I lunged at him, he let go of Sarah and started punching me in the face, I made a false move, causing him to lose his momentum. I jumped on him with my front paws making him fall to the ground. I started biting at his head. Cracks appeared in his head and I managed to take chunks out. “Bella stop!” I heard when Emmett and Jasper had grabbed me, one on either side. Dr. Cullen ran to me in a blur: “Your sister will be fine, she’s not in immediate danger anymore.” I growled as I looked around. “We mean your sister no harm, we were trying to protect her, we had no idea James was this close to the house” Dr Cullen said as he pointed towards the burning stinky corpse. “We have called Sam Uley, he’s on his way to explain what happened to you, he can help you. I need to treat your sisters injuries now but I promise you she will be fine and home soon” Dr Cullen said.

With all that had happened since I followed the Cullens from Charlie’s house I had forgotten to sense were the other wolves were at, they were very close, too close. The familiar wolves appeared out of the forest. When Emmett and Jasper let go of me the large black one growled and snarled at me as If he was trying to say something. I growled back at him. My paws still firmly on Edwards chest, he yelled out ”She can’t hear you!” I bit Edwards face again. That’s when the black wolf charged at me and rammed me off Edwards chest. With the assistance of the dark grey wolf on his left and the dark brown wolf on his right they pushed me into the forest. I fought my way out of it and seeing no other option took off running to get away from them. I had to keep running for a long time, I had lost them somewhat quickly but I had to be sure they stopped following. Once I sensed they stopped trying to follow and headed off in a different direction I decided the best I could do was wait at Charlie’s for Sarah to come home. I was beyond exhausted at this point. In the woods outside Charlie’s house I focused on being human again, nothing happened. “get on your back legs and see the transformation happening.” The male voice in my head said. I imagined turning back into the human me and kept imagining it when I stood up on my back legs. I felt myself shrink, my bones rearranging. And I was human again. I also was but naked.

After sneaking around the house I had climbed the tree outside my window, It was surprisingly easier, I felt stronger and more agile. I was in luck, due to my frequent leaning out of my window it wasn’t latched. I balanced on the branch leaning towards the window and managed to push it up a little, I jumped at the windows ledge and easily held onto it with one hand while I opened the window completely and then easily got inside my room. I grabbed a quick change of clothes and shoes and decided to jump out the window. I landed with ease, making only the slightest sound, ran back into the woods and got dressed. Time to go inform Charlie one of his daughters was home I thought as I opened the front door.

“Sarah!”

“No dad it’s me, I came home.

Charlie at first looked in shock then ran at me and hugged me. Something very out of character for him, clearly he was a mess.

“Bells where have you been, I was so worried and then your sister ran away. We looked every where for you, none of the search parties could find a thing.”

“I had to figure some things out Dad, I’m sure Sarah will be home soon. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok Bells I’m just glad one of you is back home, where have you been.”

I was lucky, Charlie’s broken heart had disabled his cop mode.

“Everywhere and nowhere dad, I’m back now though.”

Charlie finally stopped hugging me and took a good look at me.

“You look terrible Bella, what happened to you?”

My stomach let out a loud growl that would have given my wolf growls a run for it’s money.

“I can’t talk about it dad.”

“I’ll make you something to eat, go take a shower then well talk.”

I went upstairs to the bathroom, things were starting to settle in again, everything that had happened, everything I remembered. When I got into the shower all I could do was cry for I don’t know how long. Eventually there was a knock on the door.

“Bells are you ok in there?”

“Leave. Me. Alone.” I managed to let out between sobs.

“I made you some hotdogs, do you want me to put them in your room?”

I was too occupied crying and eventually Charlie gave up, when I noticed that the water had turned cold and probably had been cold for quite a bit I got out of the shower and having barely towelled myself off threw on a oversized t shirt and got in bed, crying all night until eventually my exhaustion won out and I fell asleep, I don’t know how long I slept but before long I woke up screaming murder and Charlie came rushing into my room. “You’re safe Bella, you’re safe. It was just a nightmare.” When I calmed down the crying started again and Charlie being uncomfortable with this kind of situation put me back to bed.

I spent days crying or having panic attacks with nightmares thrown on top of it. After three days Sarah was brought home by the cullens, I heard Dr. Cullen tell Charlie some BS story about they having spoken some sense into her in a hotel somewhere in Oregon, but she had tripped on the stairs and broke her foot and fells through some glass. I wanted to go confront him with his lies but it was a surefire way to end up in a insane asylum, Charlie would drive me himself. I panicked when Charlie mentioned I had come home several days earlier and asked Dr. Cullen if he could check on me. I heard him coming up the stairs, he knocked on my door. “Bella, it’s Dr Cullen, can I come in to see you?” he asked. Due to being in a full blown panic attack I was unable to form a coherent sentence to indicate I wanted him out of my house. He came in slowly. “it’s ok Bella, you’ll be ok. We brought Sarah home, she will be fine. I need to pass you a message from Sam Uley, you’re no longer to set foot on tribal lands, he and his pack can’t hear you or talk to you, he said that after the last confrontation outside our house he considers you a danger and has banned you from the reservation. Your dad is here for you. I’m also here for you Bella, if you want to talk, I’m here for you. You will be ok, try to get some sleep now.” He said and then proceeded to slowly get out of my room.

The next weeks had been rough, Sarah was a mess and I was a mess. I had dozens of missed calls from Jake and Leah, hundreds of unread texts. When the behemoth had been taken back here after my change the Cullens must have also brought back my surviving personal items. Sarah was having nightmares too, I could hear it, Charlie had stopped checking in on either of us when we had nightmares. From what I could hear, Edward had broken up with her and she was not handling it well. The Cullens were still around, Alice came from time to time to help out Sarah, taking her upstairs so she could shower, Charlie was being too thankful to Alice. The past week in between the crying, the panic attacks and the nightmares I had felt a pull to turn into a wolf again. I had been fighting it but it felt like a losing battle. At night when I was sure both Sarah and Charlie were sleeping, the latter being the easiest due to his snoring. I snuck out through the window, making the fall from the second story with ease again, making minimal noise when landing. I went into the woods and Remembered what happened last time, so I decided to strip down completely. Once I was but naked, my clothes folded up and set against a tree trunk, I started thinking of how I could change into a wolf, the male voice had never talked about this. Last time I had been furious, now I was still above all else sad, so anger wouldn’t do it. Instead, I decided to focus on turning into a wolf, I imagined myself bursting into a wolf. As I focused, I held my hands out and let myself fall forward. As I fell it was clear that it was working, I felt my bones break and rearrange. Back in my wolf shape it was easier to handle the pain, the memories, I decided to run a patrol through the town, after which I snuck up to the Cullen house, wolf ears directed at the house, there weren’t any conversations I could hear. After an hour I decided to head home again, I still had to turn back into human form again. Underway I started thinking that I should do this more regularly, it made me feel better, like I had a purpose. “you have to keep practicing, you have to learn so you can protect people.” The male voice said to me after weeks of absence. Understood voice, I thought. When I got near my clothing I focused on being human and got up on my back legs, I had changed forms a lot more easier this time. I got dressed and jumped to the ledge of my window with ease. I need to pick up my life again I thought, Sarah needs me, Charlie needs me, the people of forks need me, if I cant protect anyone on the rez I could at least protect forks, there must be others like that James out there, I hoped I would recognize them by them having a similar sickening sweet smell like James had. And went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up at 6 AM. Well back to regular life I thought, school had already started again so I would try to go to school. I decided to go for a run, got dressed in my running gear and since I could hear Charlie snoring downstairs on the couch I silently snuck out of the house about 10 minutes after I had woken up. I started off with a jog, then decided to pull into a sprint. The houses passed me in a blur, a rapid blur and in very little time I realized I was not running at my normal speed so I stopped. What the fuck is happening I was on the other side of forks moments ago? I though to myself. “Come on Bella you’re losing it, you must have just lost track of time or something” I said quietly to stop myself from freaking out completely. I decided to run back home, when I sped up again the same thing happened, I was going very fast and only stopped when I recognized Charlie’s house was coming up, I felt I was going as fast as before but my surroundings were more focused this time. I went inside to find Charlie still snoring, when I looked at the clock I saw that only 5 minutes had passed since I woke up. What the fuck is happening I thought. I shrugged it off as being a wolf thing, I could run that fast as a wolf so why not as a human, I’d just have to pay more attention to my pacing when I ran. I went upstairs to shower, got dressed, black jeans, boots, an old AC/DC shirt, and grabbed a leather jacket. Charlie was still snoring, so I got started on breakfast. While It was cooking I looked at all the messages Jake and Leah had sent me, the messages were increasingly worried, though the past days they had only been coming from Leah. Apparently Jake wasn’t feeling well. Earlier Jake had picked up my car from the body shop, though it still needed mechanical work. With breakfast cooked, a huge spread since I was starving, I hadn’t been taking care of myself lately and Charlie’s cooking was horrendous at best, I went into the living room and woke up Charlie, he looked at me confused “what’s wrong Bella do you need anything?” he asked. “Breakfast is ready and on the table, I’m gonna bring a plate up to Sarah. I’m gonna go back to school today.” I replied and turned away. I brought a plate up to Sarah, carefully waking her up. Though she was sad she was glad to see me. “Hey short cake, I know you haven’t been doing well either but it’s time for us to move forward, if not for ourselves then for the people around us. I brought you breakfast, don’t worry I made it. Please eat it and when I get back from school we can talk if you want to. I have a few things to tell you.” I said and she nodded. I went downstairs and ate 2 heaping plates. Charlie had his eyes on me the entire time. While I poured my second cup of coffee he decided to break the silence. “Are you sure you’re OK Bells? We weren’t expecting such a big change all of a sudden.” He asked. “I’m pretty far from ok, but I think I’m getting better.” I replied. “Should I call Dr Cullen so you can talk to him first?” he asked. I started shaking somewhat. “Better if you don’t. I said and continued breakfast. After breakfast I grabbed my back pack from it’s usual spot and opened the door. “Is that all you’re gonna wear Bells, it’s cold outside? Charlie asked. “The cold doesn’t bother me. I replied as I went outside. I got into the behemoth and started heading towards school.

The big breakfast had taken more time then I had thought so I was arriving to school later than usual. A lot of people were eyeing the behemoth. Remembering that I had a serious outgrowth at this point, I threw on the Houston Astros baseball cap I kept in the truck that I normally only wore when I was with Jake. You got this Bella I thought to myself. I got out and headed to my first class. I decided to sit nowhere near Emmett’s usual spot. I could hear plenty of whispers throughout the day wondering why I was back all of a sudden. Soon it was lunch, I loaded a tray and went to sit at the table Sarah and I usually sat tat. Jessica of course could no longer contain herself. “So what happened to you? Are you back for good? When is Sarah coming back?” she rapidly asked in a single breath. “I don’t want to talk about it, maybe, I don’t know.” I replied and went back to eating. Jessica wanted to continue probing me but Angela intervened and changed the subject. Even though I had told myself I wouldn’t do it earlier, that I would avoid them as much as possible I couldn’t stop myself from looking over to the Cullen table, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were all sitting there with no Edward in sight. Rosalie and I locked eyes, I felt as If I was being pulled towards Rosalie, like I was the moon revolving around her the earth, all the other kids in the cafeteria fell on the wayside, Rosalie was the only one that mattered, she mattered more than me. When she looked away I came back to my senses and wondered wtf just happened. Focus Bella, it’s a Cullen trick they are playing on you I thought. I dumped my tray and went to the bathroom, Unlike the schools I had been to before, Forks high was a tiny town school where nothing eventful ever happened, the students didn’t get into trouble so the teachers and administrative staff had been lulled into a near unbreakable false sense of security. It was always safe to smoke a cigarette in the bathrooms, I lit one up near the window I had cracked and thought about what had just happened in the cafeteria.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I kept avoiding the Cullens, I had made it through Spanish without even looking at Rosalie once. I sent a text to Jake and Leah in our group chat to inform them that I made it through a day of school. Leah replied that she was happy that I was feeling better and asked when I would visit. I recalled what Dr. Cullen had said, though I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth I had started putting some things together, the old legends I had been told over and over at the rez always made it out that the Quilette tribe had wolves to protect them and I had been attacked multiple times by wolves. Often when I’d wander close to La Push. The last time after the incident with James, three wolves had appeared shortly after Dr Cullen had said Sam would come to help me and explain things to me. So I figured it was perhaps better to avoid the rez for the time being and responded with it’s gonna be a while and that I wasn’t ready yet.

When I got home I decided to see if Sarah was up for talking. When walking upstairs the male voice said to me “Share the blood” I ignored it and went into Sarah’s bedroom. She was sitting on her bed with the leg that was in a boot elevated with a pillow.

“Have you gotten time to think today?”

Sarah nodded

“I know what happened to you over at the Cullens. I know because I was there Sarah. Part of it was my fault.”

She looked confused “how do you know and how is it part your fault?”

“Do you remember seeing a large wolf?”

“Yes, a large wolf bit off James’ head and got Edward off of me when the pain had stopped.”

“That large wolf was me Sarah, I had turned into it when I had gone to the cullens house to confront Edward after I caught him in your bedroom looking at you sleep. I had a fight with Edward and at the end of the fight I exploded into that wolf. When that happened all my childhood memories that were repressed came back and I stopped fighting Edward, I ran away in pain from the memories. I know what happened to you and I’m sorry, I promise I will do my best to protect you, I will do whatever I can to keep you safe. Please, don’t be afraid of me.”

Sarah was looking at me with wide eyes and her mouth open.

“You were that wolf? What is happening here, what kind of world is this? First I discover my ex boyfriend and his family are vampires, I get attacked and now my sister turns into a very large wolf?”

“I know it’s a lot to take in Sarah, it’s only been today that I worked up the courage to pick myself up off the ground and tell you all of this. I promise I wont hurt you, I’ll do anything to keep you safe. What did you mean with ex boyfriend? I noticed Edward wasn’t in school today.”

“Before I was brought home by the Cullens Edward broke up with me and left his family.”

“Is that why you’ve been having such a rough time?”

She nodded and I got closer to her and gave her a hug.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you short cake, you’re gonna be ok. I’ll let you get some rest now. If you wanna talk about it again just let me know.”

I let go of Sarah and headed to her door. “Uh Bella. Uhm can you cook dinner?”

I laughed. “Yeah I’m tired of the crappy hot dogs too.”

I did my homework and started preparing dinner when Charlie came home. I had decided to make a tex mex chicken casserole, Charlie was skeptical about it and to stop him from looking over my shoulder the entire time I sent him out to the stores to pick up tortillas, avocado and sour cream. It was a old recipe from my maternal grandmother so I knew it was gonna be good. When Charlie got back from the store run I put the casserole in the oven and prepared the toppings. When dinner was ready I went upstairs and went into Sarah’s bedroom. “I made a tex mex chicken casserole, with tortillas and toppings. Do you want me to bring you a plate or do you want to come down for dinner, I promise I’ll keep Charlie off your back if you want me to?” I asked her. “I’ll come down” she replied. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” I went downstairs and told Charlie that Sarah would be joining us for dinner and that he’d best let things be for now. I ran back upstairs, a little too quickly perhaps and went to get sarah, I picked her up in my arms, I barely noticed that I was holding her and carefully carried her downstairs, she was blushing pretty significantly. On the way down I heard the male voice say share the blood again. I put Sarah down on a chair Charlie had pulled out for her and sat down myself. Charlie had put the casserole’s and the toppings on the table. I helped Sarah fix a plate and then fixed my own plate. For the first time in weeks we ate as a family. Charlie was hesitant at first, he was not a fan of new foods and this was the first time I had made this recipe, but clearly he was enjoying it as much as Sarah and I were enjoying it. When we were all done, Charlie started clearing off the table, saying he’d do the dishes. Upon Sarah’s request I carried her to the bathroom upstairs so she could clean up. I waited outside for her to be done. I then took her to bed and went to the bathroom myself, I grabbed my hair dye and got to work. While the dye was working I joined Charlie in the living room to watch a bit of TV with him. “Dad, she just needs time. She’ll be ok.” I told him. “It’s just hard not being able to help you girls, Bells.” He said. “I know dad but I don’t think you’d be able to help anyway, you’re not a girl.” I replied. Charlie sighed and I went upstairs to wash my hair and shower. During my shower I was thinking about Rosalie Hale when Charlie knocked on the door. “Bells I have Billy on the line, he needs to urgently talk to you about Jake.” Jake, he was sick, oh no I thought. “Tell him ill be right out dad!” I replied. I quickly toweled myself off and put on my fresh pair of jeans and t shirt. I ran downstairs to get the phone.

“Billy what’s wrong with Jake?”

“Bella, you need to come here right away.”

“Billy you know I’m not allowed.

“You are allowed today, come right now.” Billy said and he hung up the phone.”

“Dad I gotta go see Jake now, something is wrong with him and Billy wont say over the phone, Jake hadn’t been feeling well lately.”

Charlie made me promise that I wouldn’t get in trouble and wouldn’t run away again. I got in the Behemoth cursing I didn’t have my car yet and drove to Jake’s house. Upon arriving I saw Billy, Sam, Jared and Paul waiting for me on the porch. “what happened?!” I demanded. “The same thing that happened to you has happened to Jake and like you he’s not connected to the pack. Sam here was unable to explain things to Jake and Jake attacked them. You need to phase and see if you can reach Jake and convince him to come home and listen to Sam.” Billy said. Looking at them I could see Sam, Jared and Paul had some pink scars. “Can I use the woods?” I asked Billy. “sure, sure. Do what you go to do just bring Jake home.” Billy said. I nodded and noticed that the other three were all giving me ugly looks. I ran into the woods and stripped off my clothes, I started running and imagined myself as a wolf and phased on the fly, now that I was on all fours I could hear Jake panicking. “Jake you will be ok, meet me at the old loggers site.” I told him. “Bella why can I hear you?” Jake asked. “Jake I’ll explain later, meet me at the old loggers site, now!” I said. “Yes Bella.”

When Jake showed up at the loggers site I heard him yell “Bella don’t come here there’s one of these large wolves at the old loggers site.” And he charged at me intending to fight me.

“JAKE STOP!!!” I ordered him.

Jake froze in place mid run.

“I’m the large wolf, Jake. You’re also a large wolf, I don’t know exactly why his happened to both of us but think of the old legends they told us. Remember the Quilette wolves that protected the tribe in the legends, we are like those wolves.”

“But, Bella you’re not even a member of the tribe.”

“I don’t have all the answers either Jake, I don’t know why we can communicate but why neither of us can communicate with Sam or the others. You need to come with me, I’ll take you home, Billy has been worried.”

“Is Sam one of the other wolves?”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure it’s him, Jared and Paul.”

“That would explain why they were always around the house when I wasn’t feeling well. What about Quill and Embry, they started to always hang around with Sam lately.

“Jake, I don’t have all the answers, now follow me to your house so we can get some.”

“Jake you got a awfully long russet brown fur.” I said as we were on our way back.

“Look who’s talking, your black fur isn’t much better.”

When we got back to Jake’s house, we stayed in the woods and I explained to the best of my ability how Jake could phase back. It took him half an hour of trying, he was constantly thinking of other things. I finally got fed up with it and said “Focus on the phasing, Jake!” It snapped Jake to attention and pretty soon he starting getting smaller and a butt naked Jake appeared on all fours. I phased myself and said “Stay here Jake while I go get you some clothes. And stop looking at my ass.” I got to my clothes, got dressed and ran towards the house. I hadn’t been paying much attention to my pace and the speed with which I arrived made the 4 off them look at me strangely. “I found Jake, he needs some clothes, he’s waiting for me back in the woods.” I told them. “Were you able to order him, as in tell him to do something and he was unable to not do it?” Sam asked “Yeah I suppose so, yeah. When he ran at me I told him to stop and he froze in place.” I replied. “As acting chief of this tribe I have been left with no other choice, I cannot allow another rogue wolf to be on the tribal lands, Jake is hereby banished until further notice. We will try to figure out what it going on with you two but until then for the peoples safety neither one of you can set foot on this land.” Sam said. Billy looked horrified “Sam you cannot be serious, he is my son.” Billy said. “It’s not up for debate Billy, you know I have the authority and I have to put the peoples safety first, I don’t want to do this the hard way.” Sam replied. I was getting furious, who the hell did he think he was, throwing Jake out of the only house he has ever know. Billy noticed I was shaking “Bella please calm down, I’m sure it will all work out in the end. Promise me you’ll take care of Jake.” He said as he held out some clothes. I grabbed them and said, "I’ll be back with Jake in a bit, you can explain this to him yourself and I’ll make sure he can stay with me over at Charlie’s." I ran back to Jake and threw him his clothes, I stayed nearby when Billy explained everything, Jake cried due to the forced exile. Jake packed a duffel bag with the essentials and a weeks worth of clothes. “Bella, Jake I’m sorry about all of this, I’ll take to my fellow council members and we’ll try to reason with Sam, but we can’t recall his order.” Billy said. He handed us both a couple of long woven leather strings. “With these you can carry some minimal clothes with you around your leg when you’ve phased and if you cut your hair your fur wont be that long.” We nodded and left the house behind. I got in the behemoth with Jake who was still crying over what had happened and I drove us both towards Charlie’s, knowing there were now two of us exiled.


	6. Time for a change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, made a change as to how the conversations are written, I'll edit the other chapters at a later point. Hopefully everybody will enjoy the new style and above all the new chapter. Thank you all for the comments and Kudos it really means the world to me.

Chapter 6

**Family is not an important thing,  
it’s everything.**

Charlie was furious when we arrived home and explained the situation to the best of our ability without revealing what we had become. Jake was a wreck, becoming a wolf is a lot to take in, having your home taken away at the same time makes it almost too much to bear. After explaining it Charlie had told Jake he could stay for as long as he needed to and that he should turn the spare bedroom into his own room so that he’d feel at home. As I took Jake up so he could get situated we both heard Charlie get on the kitchen phone, I told Jake to stay in his room. It wasn’t difficult to guess who was on the other end of the call, even before Charlie said his name multiple times. When I entered the kitchen Charlie’s face was no longer red, it had turned purple. “What do you mean Billy, how is it possible that Jake is no longer allowed to live or set foot on the reservation?!” Charlie blurted into the phone. I walked over to the phone.

“Dad, this is not helping right now.” I said and pressed the button to end the call.

“Jake is upstairs and can hear everything, we will take care of this. But there’s the right way and the wrong way to do things. Yelling at Billy isn’t going to help, what will help is you enrolling Jake into school tomorrow and renting a box truck and trailer to get the rest of Jake’s stuff and my car from Billy’s. I’m not allowed on the rez either so I need you to do this.”

Charlie’s face gradually turned from purple to red and back to normal as he calmed down.

“Ok Bells if you think it’s for the best.” He finally replied.

“Dad, promise you won’t make a scene tomorrow, the focus needs to be on making Jake feel at home, he’s going through a hard time right now.” 

“Ok Bells, I take it it’s all on a need to know basis?”

“It is dad, things are out of our control, we didn’t do anything to cause this if you will but it’s up to us to fix it now, Billy is gonna do what he can on his end but we don’t know when this will be resolved.”

I picked up the phone and ordered a couple of large pizza’s since Jake hadn’t eaten yet. Charlie volunteered to go pick them up. I went back upstairs and went to comfort Jake until Charlie got back. I managed to convince Jake to come downstairs to eat. Since we were both exhausted at this point we went upstairs after eating and went to bed. The following day I went to school after having made breakfast and making sure both Sarah and Jake ate. Charlie followed through on his promise, he got Jake enrolled in Forks high, even threw around his influence to ensure that Jake got as many classes as possible with me. He had gotten all of Jake’s stuff from Billy’s and all of my stuff + the car. Charlie generously cleared out the garage with Jakes help and took a bunch of it to the dump and put his fishing gear in the shed outside. They put the car and all of jakes tools and equipment in the garage by the time I got home from school. Several times at school I had been distracted by Rosalie, who gave me a death glare every time she caught me looking, which was starting to hurt but I couldn’t bear to look away or give her the death glare back. Something pulled me towards her. The rest of the time I had thought of ways to help Jake, I figured he needed routine, so I had set up a chores schedule for Sarah, Jake and me. Tonight Jake and I would do the cooking. We needed to do groceries first. Especially since Jake had a large appetite as well. Billy had given Charlie some money for Jake’s upkeep and had insisted he’d take it every month until Jake could come home. So after homework Jake and I went to the big grocery store. We both bought several cheap pairs of jeans with our own money and extra sneakers for Jake and extra sports bras for me. We got a decent haul of food and snacks with the budget Charlie had given us. Tonight, we’d have mustard pork chops with baked potatoes and a side salad. The rest of the meals for the week had been planned out. In the parking lot somebody had bumped into Jake, by accident of course but Jake hadn’t taken it well, he was shaking. “Jake, you have to calm down, it was an accident. Close your eyes, count to ten.” I said and Jake complied. He stopped shaking and we went home. After dinner, Jake and I having eaten at least half of it, we had Sarah watch some Netflix with us in my room. We all went to bed when Charlie announced he was gonna retire for the night. Once I could hear Charlie snore I snuck into Jake’s room and got him out of bed. “get dressed in a pair of cut off jeans and meet me outside.” I whispered to him.

When Jake joined me outside, I was dressed in a pair of cut off jeans and a sports bra. Even though it was getting quite cold by now It didn’t bother either of us. We walked into the woods. Ok time to strip and the you have to focus on phasing, you have to focus on that alone Jake, imagine turning into a wolf and it will happen, the more you practice the easier it will become. Tie your pants around your leg with the string Billy gave you. We each got behind different trees to give each other some privacy while we stripped. I managed to phase nearly instantly, to my satisfaction the cut offs and bra were attached to my right leg. It took Jake a little longer but soon I could hear him in my head again. Unfortunately, I had been thinking about my bad memories when he had finally phased.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you Bella, that’s horrible.”

“I don’t want to talk about it Jake, we’re gonna do a patrol around Forks. Follow me.”

We ran from Charlies house to the border of the reservation. From there we ran to what I had designated the border of Cullen territory, headed to the other side of town and raced back to Charlie’s house. Well raced as in Jake tried to keep up but failed miserably. Jake was panting when we got back to the house.

“Bella how did you get so fast, you’re way faster than I am, faster than when the other had been chasing me.”

“I don’t know how, I did a lot of running before but since the incident at the Cullens where I phased in their house I have been a whole lot faster.” I said to Jake and showed him the memories of running in human form where everything turned to a blur.

“will I get that fast?”

“I don’t know Jake. Maybe? We should phase back to our human forms and get to bed, there weren’t any sickingly sweet smells in the area so we should get some rest before school tomorrow.”

“Do you think the Cullens are the same as that James who’s head you bit off after he attacked your sister?”

“I don’t know, they aren’t human though so we should keep an eye on them.”

“Yeah especially that hot blonde you were thinking of half the time”

“Shut up and go phase Jake…”

As we got into position where we could phase in privacy I again heard the male voice saying: share the blood.

“Did you hear that too Jake?

“Hear what?”

“Since the incident where I phased at the Cullens I started hearing a male voice again he’s been giving me advice. Lately all he’s been saying is ‘share the blood’. I can’t remember exactly but I know that voice from one of my bad memories”

“weird, what would he mean with share the blood.”

“I don’t know let’s just phase now and get some rest.”

I was again able to instantly phase back to my human form. It took Jake 10 minutes. Eventually he joined me in Charlie’s yard.

“We’ll start doing this every day, when you got your phasing under better control we’ll start taking turns, we need to protect Forks. From what I got out of Sarah there were two others with that James thing, one guy with dreadlock the other a red headed female. We need to tear them apart and set them on fire from what I’ve learned.”

“Ok will do. Night Bella.”

“Night Jake.” I said as we went back inside and snuck into our rooms.

The next day I had convinced Sarah to come back to school since it was Friday, I enlisted Charlie’s help that she could come home if it was too much. The three of us got in the behemoth. And went to school. We had planned to take Sarah to every class but as soon as we arrived it turned out it wasn’t necessary, Jessica, Mike who apparently had a thing with Jessica now, Eric and Angela all helped Sarah throughout the day. At lunch Jake had rapidly been accepted by the lunch group, of course I had gotten the death glare from Rosalie again but it was totally worth it. Before we went into the separate locker rooms for PE I warned Jake to keep in mind his extra strength, speed and that it wasn’t appropriate to join up for a sports team due to what we were. Jake had kept it in mind and only showed off a little. Couch Clapp did try of course to get the 6”4 muscular Jake to try out for the football team but Jake declined. After PE we walked back with Sarah to the truck, Alice Cullen appeared.

“Hi guys, I’m glad to see you in school again Sarah.” Alice said.

“I’m glad that Bella managed to convince me, it was easier then I thought.” Sarah replied. That’s when I noticed that Billy and Sue were waiting for us by the behemoth.

“Hey Sarah we gotta go, you know get dinner started and stuff. You take care Alice”. I said. Sarah and Alice each said by too. Despite my dislike for the Cullens it was hard to fully hate Alice, she had come to take care of Sarah when I had been unable to. I may thank her one day. When we got to the truck we said hi to Billy and Sue and helped Sarah into the behemoth.

“we need to talk to them for a second, we’ll be right back short cake.” I said. Sarah understood it had to do with Jake and didn’t make a problem out of it.

Billy was happy to see Jake but Jake gave him a cold reception, Billy and Sue explained they had been unable to talk some sense into Sam but that they wouldn’t give up. Billy deeply apologized to Jake but recognized damage had been done, I encouraged Jake to call Billy at least once a week. Since it was clear that both Billy and Sue were fully in the know about what happened to us, I told them that I planned to daily patrol the forks area between the tribal lands border and the general area around the Cullens house. Billy explained how the tribe had a treaty with the Cullens and what it entailed.

“though I suppose you two don’t technically need to respect is since the treaty doesn’t apply to you, just be careful in general Bella, the cold ones are dangerous, keep Jake safe till we figure this all out please.” Billy said

“I will, but my gut tells me I have to keep the people of Forks safe too so we have to do this.” I replied.

Billy nodded “You don’t seem to be the worst Alpha.” He said.

“Alpha?” I asked.

“Well since you can give orders to Jake for some reason it appears you’re the alpha wolf. It’s another reason why Sam doesn’t want you guys around, he’s the Alpha of the wolves in La Push.” He replied.

Sue reminded Billy that they had to go, so we said our goodbye’s and headed for the behemoth. Billy loudly reminded us that we’d be more comfortable with shorter hair. On the way home I decided Jake and I both needed a haircut. We dropped Sarah off at home so she could get started on her homework. I drove Jake to the local barber and sent him in to get his hair cut. Jake came out with a modern undercut having retained a decent length on top and sides with a nice fade.

“Nice cut Jake, you’ll have to be careful Monday that you wont get harassed by all the girls in school.” I said.

“This better work or I’ll be pissed. I grew my hair for years. Why didn’t you go in?” he mumbled.

“Jake, that’s a men’s only barber, I’ll cut it myself at home when you’re helping Sarah cook dinner.” I replied.

“Oh right I got to help her cook dinner.” He sighed.

“Just do what she tells you to do, it’ll be fine. This way it’s an easy job to get dinner on the table every night that is edible, trust me you don’t want Charlie to cook. He means well but he cannot cook if his life would depend on it.” I said.

We went home and did homework, when Sarah and Jake were cooking I went upstairs and cut my hair into a messy bob, a good chunk was gone but at least it still came to roughly in between my jaw line and shoulders. Jake still didn’t look happy that his was that short. Charlie was surprised when he came home to see we had haircuts.

We spent the weekend patrolling and working on my car, Jake was happy that the haircut had helped, neither of us had fur that dragged over the ground anymore. Jake was confident that the car would be running soon, the body shop had complimented him on the repair work and certified the chassis as straight. It was just engine work and then we’d have to get the suspension aligned, get it inspected and get it on a dyno to tune it. We had come across nothing strange during out patrols, but Jake had had a revelation.

“Bella what if this has to do with the blood oath you, Leah and I took when we were kids, promising we’d always be the best friends? He said during our patrol.

As soon as he said it I heard the male voice say share the blood again.

“Share the blood… Jake how do you feel about a blood oath with Sarah?” Jake understood my idea and agreed to it. Sunday evening, Charlie was off to have dinner at Sue’s, something I loved teasing him with, we had convinced Sarah to join us in a blood oath when we were having s’mores around the fire pit. Sarah had been hesitant and so were we since when we got a cut it closed up pretty quickly. We had acted fast and shared our blood with Sarah, saying she was forever more than a half sister to me and a friend to Jakes now. Sarah went inside to put a band aid on her finger when she came back running outside.

“What the hell, this cut is already closed up!”

Jake and I looked at each other and realized something had happened.

“err, that’s the magic of a blood oath Sarah.” I said while showing my own cut already closed up. She seemed to believe us.

Sarah started to change in the coming weeks, she was growing out of her clothes, Charlie had fortunately dismissed it as Sarah having a growth spurt. Jake had been getting plenty of attention from the girls at school at first. I kept being distracted by Rosalie, I had to remind myself several times it was a Cullen trick being played on me. Alice Cullen started complimenting me on my outfits again and my new hair cut. Emmett had made a habit of always saying hello when we had classes together. Jake still was short tempered from time to time so I had started teaching him the breathing exercises and meditation Emily had taught me. Sometimes I let Jake get rest and Patrolled by myself, I always knew when the La Push wolves were out and about. I had discovered I could hear Sam if I focused on him, I was careful when I did it though, hoping to prevent him from knowing. The car was soon finished and we rented a trailer to get it aligned and took it to Port Angeles for certification. When we got home, Charlie insisted on ordering a bunch of pizza’s as it was a evening for celebration and not one for cooking dinner ourselves. Soon I would have a new title for the Nissan, so Jake and I re-entered the car trade, wanting to make some money to help Charlie out and make sure we didn’t run out of clothes ourselves. The old Friday tradition we had, was replaced with Sue, Leah and Seth coming over to Charlie’s to have dinner, it was always nice to see Leah, Seth followed Jake around like a puppy, Seth loved Leah but he had always wanted a big brother, Jake was as close as he would get. The Tribal council had appointed Sue as the liaison between us and the council, so the weekly trip provided a handy cover that kept Sam from finding out. Sue had confided in me that she was worried about Leah, Leah like Sarah had started getting temperature fluctuations. But Sue’s biggest worry was Leah also being banished. We had been doing research with Sue’s help and had discovered that thanks to Charlie both Sarah and I were part Quilette. I started thinking then that something was gonna have to give, something was gonna have to change. I shared the occasional drink and joint with Jake, though I knew that I was being a bad influence on him, but it was hard to deny him such things when he asked the way he did and the weed helped him keep his cool just as it had done for me. When I patrolled I had started hearing the male voice say “hold off, it’s not the time for fighting yet.”

In the first week of December I had gotten my title, Sarah was fully healed by now. At least according to Dr. Cullen. But she was burning up, Jake and I both new it would be soon, we just hoped it would happen at home and not in public. We kept a close eye on her. I went to school in the Nissan for the first time, proud to show my baby off, it had been a long time coming I thought. Repainted in a gorgeous baby blue that we had polished and waxed. She was awesome to drive, peppy in the lower revs but a monster when the turbos came into effect. The loud burbling exhaust made my presence known as I approached the school, as I drove up everybody knew this car was far from stock. I parked her in a prime real estate parking spot and as I got out was immediately surrounded by people asking millions of questions about the car. Even Rosalie Hale seemed to be impressed by the car, it made my heart flutter. As the week came to an end it had become clear from Jakes experiences that Sarah was about to phase her temperature had become consistent and she was irritable, Charlie was worried, he had called Dr. Cullen, fortunately it had been him the supernatural Dr and not a human one, Sarah was running a steady 108 degrees, she should be dead if it wasn’t for what we had activated. Dr. Cullen gave a prescription to Charlie and excused Sarah and me from school for a week, saying that it would be best if there was somebody home. He had once attempted to convince me to go back for sessions but I politely declined.

We were lucky, it happened on Sunday, I had convinced Charlie he should go fishing, that Jake and I would be home all day and we’d call him the first sign of trouble. In the early afternoon Sarah was violently shaking and screaming. Jake and I carried her outside into the woods. I ran back inside and got a change of clothes for Sarah and Jake and I’s wolf clothes as we called them. Soon after Sarah let out a scream and exploded into a large light grey wolf. I phased on the fly and Jake followed soon after, he had gotten nearly as good as I was.

“Sarah stop!” I said using my alpha voice.

“Bella what is happening to me, what happened to you and Jake?”

“You have achieved your birth rights and have become wolves like Jake and me.”

“But how?”

“With the blood oath we activated the magic already present in your blood. Now you will be able to always defend yourself and you will never be alone. There is much you have to learn but Jake and I will teach you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We will explain everything to you over the coming weeks, but rest assured you will be fine.”

“Bella why am I unable to move?”

“Because I am your alpha wolf and I gave you the order to stop, you cannot deny my orders when I use my alpha voice. I will allow you to go now but you must not wander too far from the house, stay in the woods and don’t let anybody see you.”

“Ok I understand.”

“Go test out your new legs Sarah.”

Sarah took off running, she carefully followed my instructions, Jake and I grimaced when we heard her think that she was as fast as Edward was. More and more details she had never talked about became clear, how the Cullens had taken her with them when they went to play baseball, how James had wanted her blood. How it had hurt when he bit her, a pain that seemed familiar to me. After Sarah had ran around for what seemed like an hour I decided to recall her.

“Time to come back Sarah.”

“Do I have to? Please can I run some more?”

“You can run later Sarah, come back now! It’s time for you to learn how to phase back if you do well you can run a patrol tonight with Jake.”

“Ok I’ll be right there.”

Clearly Sarah was very enthusiastic to belong to the world of supernatural beings after all. Once she got back I explained to her how she had to phase back and confirmed my suspicion that Jake was the Beta of our pack. I decided to phase back myself, I stepped away and got dressed, I grabbed Sarah’s change of clothes. When I got back shortly after Sarah hadn’t phased back, the first time is always the most difficult time. Even though I was in my human form I had discovered I could connect to Jake if I wanted to.

“Jake how is she doing?”

“This stays freaky when you do that you know, she’s having trouble focusing.”

“WTF ARE WE ALWAYS CONNECTED LIKE THIS?!”

“No Sarah only if we want to when in human form, now focus on your phasing, I have clothes here for you.”

15 minutes later Sarah managed to phase back, Jake had already politely retreated to give us privacy. I gave her clothes and let her get dressed, when we got back inside we sat down at the kitchen table.

“Sarah, you will need to learn to watch your temper now, you have always been the calmest person I know so this might be easier for you, but regardless you need to be careful, you cannot phase in school or when Charlie is around. You are not to venture out on your own for some time, There’s areas where we can’t go, the reservation for example. Jake and I will teach you the ropes, if you do well you can eventually be given your own slot in the patrol schedule, usually Jake and I switch every night, for now you will come with one of us every night. We patrol around forks to protect the population from people like James. It is our duty. While we don’t have a treaty with the Cullens ourselves the Quilette tribe does, we have chosen to respect that treaty regardless, we don’t go on Cullen land. The town itself is considered neutral. You cannot openly speak about any of this, ever. You cannot reveal what you are, it must remain secret, you cannot expose the Cullens no matter how you feel about them.”

“I think I got the gist of it, can I please go run with Jake tonight?”

I turned to Jake “Eager, isn’t she?”

We all had to laugh. I gave Sarah a braided leather cord from the supply Sue had brought and explained how to use it. I gave her the bad news about her needing to get her hair cut. And we agreed she’d act in front of Charlie that she was on the mend. When I was in bed in the evening I was thinking of ways to take Sam down, I didn’t want to get Sarah or Jake hurt so I wanted to force Sam into a one on one fight. During my planning I heard the male voice again. “it’s almost time, keep preparing, keep practicing, but wait for the right opportunity. Patience.”

When Sarah went back to school with us, Alice Cullen had a very worried look on her face. I reminded Sarah not to say anything about what happened to her, despite her being friends with Alice. Sarah did well overall, the lunch group did notice Sarah had gotten a very large appetite, Angela had chalked it up to her recovering from having been sick, and Jake had managed to change the subject. During PE people had noticed that Sarah was different aside from being taller, she stood at 5”10 now after all, Sarah did her best to not use her superior strength or speed, but there was no hiding the fact that she had lost all her clumsiness and despite her generic gym clothes it was hard to completely hide her now toned body After school I took Sarah with me in the Nissan to Port Angeles, she had insisted on a more professional haircut and got a professionally cut bob, We got her some new clothes and several pairs of cheap jeans and sports bra’s for her wolf clothes. The first day went by fine, so did the second and the rest of the week with only minimal occasional reminders to Sarah about keeping up appearances, Sarah went patrolling with one of us every night and Charlie was none the wiser. On Friday Sue had come alone, she had brought the famous Clearwater fish fry and helped get the sides ready with me, a habit we had started as it allowed us to have some privacy for certain discussions. Sue had mentioned to Charlie that Leah wasn’t feeling well and that Seth had stayed behind. In the kitchen Sue was unable to keep up her facade any longer.

“What’s the matter Sue, I can see you look worried? Leah isn’t just sick, is she?

“Leah has started running the occasional temperature, Sam is keeping a close eye on the house.”

“It’s going to work out in the end Sue, trust me. Leah will be fine.”

“I’m looking for a house outside the reservation, Bella. My business is outside the Reservation anyway and I don’t want to live without one of my kids. You’re taking great care of Jake but Charlie would get suspicious.”

“Let’s just hope it wont get that far, We’ll keep an eye out as best as we can and when Leah phases and we can hear her we’ll do everything we can to get her to safety.”

Sue sighed, she was still anxious, I had been able to give her a little relief but that was about it. Shortly after dinner Sue said goodbye saying she wanted to go check on Leah. We told Charlie we’d throw a couple of logs in the fire pit and have s’mores for desert, something Charlie wasn’t a fan of and since there was a game on he just told us to be safe with the fire. Around the fire pit, I explained what was going on, I could have tied Sarah and Jake in during the talk with Sue but it was always uncomfortable when we were human. I laid out my plan to have longer patrols, we’d patrol individually for hours and stay near the reservation border, if one of us heard Leah after she phased that wolf would Howl to call the others. Weeks went by, the longer patrols were starting to take it’s toll on us, I had done a couple of all nighters by now to give the others a break. It was winter break now in school, a couple of days before Christmas so we patrolled nearly constantly, I had started the evening shift and laid down by the border intending to stay there a while. I sensed there were a few La Push wolves out patrolling but I wasn’t worried, it was clear Sam despite his harsh treatment of Jake and to a lesser extent of me, wasn’t looking for a fight, the La Push wolves never set a paw in Forks. For a few hours I had rested near the border, using my senses to keep track of the La Push Wolves and had noticed they were starting to converge together. I was about to get up and do a lap of our patrol route when all of a sudden I heard Leah.

“What is happening to me? Why are you attacking me? Ouch! Stop attacking me.”

“Leah start running towards me now! Run towards Forks! I’m waiting for you at the border.” I ordered in my Alpha voice.

I let out my Alpha howl, soon I was joined by Jake and Sarah. I explained the situation and ordered them not to attack unless the La Push wolves ran across the border. I focused on Sam and yelled at him.

“Sam leave her alone, she’s running to forks.”

“what?”

“You heard me. Stop chasing Leah.” I said and closed the connection.

When Leah joined us at the border we explained what had happened to her, we took her back to charlies, Sarah phased to go get a change of clothes for Leah. When we had been able to get Leah to phase and change we took her inside. Sue was waiting for us crying. My blood was boiling, due to the connection we all knew what Leah being connected to us meant. Charlie was comforting Sue while Jake was privately talking to Leah to explain everything to her. I slammed my first on the kitchen table causing it to split in half.

“This ends now!”

“Bella!”

“No dad, this ends now, people are divided, families have been torn apart, children have been separated from their parents, this ends now! Jake, Sarah, Leah on me! Sue you’ll be able to go home soon, make sure Charlie stays here. I’m sure you’ll be called soon for a meeting.”

“Good luck Bella and thank you.” Sue replied.

We drove for a while in the Behemoth and the Nissan. Eventually leaving them at the side of the road. We went into the forest to phase, Leah had struggled but managed to do it. Once we were all phased I explained the plan to them and gave them specific instructions to keep the other wolves at bay while Sam and I fought it out. We started running for the rez while I called out Sam. Just before we crossed the border I heard the male voice again saying “You have chosen the time well, soon it will be over.”


	7. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for all the kudos and comments. I got another chapter finished. Hope you enjoy.

**Chapter 7**

**We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.**

“Get to the old logging site Sam, have your wolves stand down, this is between you and me.” I said to Sam when I temporarily reopened the link.

I slowed down my pace as we neared the old logging site, ordered my pack to spread out. Jake took in a position on my right flank, Leah on the left and Sarah would be behind me, they were to take in a crescent shape formation while I’d be dealing with Sam in the middle. Due to our slow approach Sam arrived first. He had his wolves lined up behind him. We exited the woods and I gave the order to my wolves to assume formation and to not interfere unless Sam had his wolves interfere. I stepped forward towards the middle of the clearing, Sam did the same.

“Yield Sam, nobody needs to get hurt. We don’t have to fight but one way or the other this ends now.”

I had barely finished speaking to him and Sam charged at me while growling. I started running too and let my wolf instinct take over. Just before we’d make contact, I ducked underneath Sam and bit him in his right hind leg and skidded into a rapid turn when I got out from under him.

“Yield Sam!”

“No, you are not going to take over here.”

He charged at me again, my instinct told me my earlier trick wouldn’t work again. Before he made contact I raised on my hind legs using my front paws to brace against him and stop his momentum, Sam immediately bit my right front leg. I retaliating by biting him hard in his snout, drawing blood. Sam let loose of my right front leg and yanked his snout out of my mouth, he ducked low intending on biting me in the, I ducked as well and we bit at each other’s faces. After we took some distance we both went high and again went for each other’s face, I got a good bite in causing Sam to take distance again.

“Yield Sam!”

Sam’s response was a loud growl before he charged at me again. I ran towards him as well but let my hind legs slide out dodging his frontal attack. I chased after Sam as he kept running and used my superior speed to get on his side, step by step I got closer. When I was close enough I bit down in his neck hard and I let myself fall to the ground taking Sam down with me. I kept biting down hard on Sam’s neck and bit by bit I turned him over until he was nearly on his back. Using a front paw to distract him I went for his throat. I bit down hard enough to have a good grip and make it hard for Sam to breathe.

“YIELD!!!” I yelled no longer using my regular wolf voice but my Alpha voice.

Sam’s body went limp.

“One false move and I will kill you Sam.”

“I yield, I yield, you won, the pack is yours.” Sam blurted out as fast as he could.

I heard the thoughts of his entire pack now and no longer had to focus to talk to Sam.

“Jared, Paul, Embry, Quill any of you have a problem with me being in charge?”

They all in unison recognized me as the new Alpha.

“Sam, I’m gonna let go of your throat now, think about Emily before you get any ideas.”

“I won’t try anything Bella, I don’t think I could if I wanted.”

“Bella you seem to have more authority than Sam ever had.” Paul spoke up.

I let go of Sam’s throat and ordered every wolf to follow me to Billy’s house. Along the way the euphoria of my victory started wearing off and I heard the male voice again.

“when you speak with the tribe’s elders ask them for the oldest legends, you may need to give me control, I have some things I need to say to them before it’s too late. It wont be easy for me to keep control for long, try not to fight it even though it will feel disorienting.” The male voice said. I didn’t mention it to anyone and let my mind wander. When I thought of Rosalie, Jared spoke up.

“You imprinted on a Cullen?”

“What are you talking about?”

Jared and Sam started explaining what imprinting was to me since none of my wolves had such knowledge.

“Shut up both of you, you don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s obviously a Cullen trick they played on me. Some of them have certain gifts.”

Neither Jared or Sam were able to bring it up again to me, when we got to the woods just off Billy’s house I ordered all the wolves to give each other room and to phase. I phased quickly as usual and put on my denim cut offs and sports bra. When I ran up to Billy’s house he looked panicked at first.

“It’s over Billy, call Sue and call the council. Time for a long overdue meeting.”

“Is Jake OK?”

“Jake is getting dressed, I phase quicker than the others and I ordered the wolves to give each other room for phasing.”

Billy looked relieved when he saw Jake come out of the woods and immediately went to work. Half an hour later, Sue and Quill Ateara III had both arrived. Sue had been followed by a worried Charlie but we had managed to convince him that the scars I had looked worse than they were, they would fade soon and that we had to conduct tribal business to resolve the issue. Emily had thanked me for not killing her Sam, Sam’s face, neck and throat were covered in pink scars for now. Once Sue had Charlie settled in her house with a game and a beer we all got together in Billy’s house.

“Billy why don’t you start with telling us about the oldest legends of the tribe, it’s important that I know how far back the legends go.”

Billy started with the legend of the spirit warriors, eventually he proceeded to the legend of when a spirit warrior called Utlapa betrayed Chief Taha Aki by taking over Taha Aki’s body and slitting the throat of his own body while Chief Taha Aki was undertaking one of his routine spirit journeys to ensure the safety of the Quileute tribe. He then told the story of how Taha Aki became the great wolf and how the third wife had saved the tribe from the cold ones. The male voice became agitated upon hearing this legend. I took that as a sign that I had to give control. I focused on letting go of control of my body, I felt a internal struggle and did my best to let the other side win. I lost control of my limbs and eventually lost my sight, I kept struggling to not take any of it back.

“Bella’s eyes have gone completely black! Bella are you ok?”

“Bella is temporarily not in control of her body, do not interrupt any further.”

I understood what was being said though it was in a strange language, I heard everybody but the elders wonder what I had just said. Billy told them all to settle down.

“When my third wife had sacrificed herself I did spend days beside her body mourning, after I took off I never retook human form, I wandered for many winters, wandered far from home, I lived as a wolf, eventually the wolf died after an accident, our magic healing could not overcome it. I looked forward to finally crossing over, having lived so long, buried so many had taken it’s toll on me. When the wolf had died I found I was stuck here as a spirit, I worried for my sons who had died, I worried for the tribe, over the many winters I never came across another spirit warrior, I believe I was stuck here because I did not have a human body, but my children weren’t because they were given birth to by human women. I flew around the earth for centuries, it always pleased me when I saw the tribe was still around, when I saw the tribe was still being protected by wolves descendent from me. I learned to easily find members of our tribe, even when their ancestry went back for generations. I saw the wolves protect the tribe from many more cold ones, until one day I saw a wolf make peace with the strange cold ones that live in this area again. At first I had not believed it but it seems these cold ones found a way to live without harming the tribe and others. I found this girl ten winters ago, she did not have a lot of our magic in our blood but it was there, enough to recognize her as partial Quileute, a man was performing horrible acts upon her, I made the clouds appear and cry for her, I made the wind be my fists. It had worked, the man got out of her room. I kept checking in on the girl, she lived far from the tribe and I felt a need to protect her. Several winters later another man was taking advantage of the girl, I again made the clouds appear and cry for her and the wind be my fists, that man too was scared away. Until 4 winters ago, when I checked in on the girl when I passed by she had been taken by a sadistic cold one, he had bitten the girl, he was taking pleasure in her screaming in pain from his venom. My rage was not enough to scare away the cold one. I called out to the girl, asked her to make room for me and explained I could help her protect herself from the cold one. The girl in agony from what the cold one had done agreed, her young spirit made room for my old one and my rage activated the magic present in her blood. That was the first time she turned into a wolf, I had taken control of her body, I was stronger then and attacked the cold one, once I destroyed him I carried the cold pieces outside and phased back to human form and set them on fire before they could reassemble. I walked the girls body back to bed, the magic in her blood upon activation had stopped the cold one’s venom from turning her further, but she for a small part had become like him, stronger, harder and faster than a regular human. I had intended to give back control to the girl and then leave. I discovered quickly that upon joining a human spirit a bonding began that cannot be broken, after speaking to you the girl and I will have become one. The girl for several winters had put up a barricade of anger to supress the pain of what had happened to her, it prevented me from communicating with her, when she turned into a great wolf again I could speak with her again, I helped her as best I could, now it is up to you, take care of the girl, she will be important in the future.”

I felt the struggle stop after the man had given up control, it had taken it’s toll and I passed out. When I came to my pack was worried and the council was staring at me in shock.

“uh my head, what happened.”

“You passed out after you babbled for a long time Bella, are you ok?” Jake asked.

“Jake! Bella was not babbling, it was the great wolf Taha Aki who spoke to us in old Quileute, he has become part of her, their spirits merged years ago.” Old Quill said to jake

There was mumbling amongst my pack while I got my bearings. I directed myself to the council members.

“Please tell me you guys got all that?

Yes they said in near unison.

“Bella without a doubt you are the Alpha of the now unified pack, Taha Aki being part of you gives you the authority over the pack and the tribe.” Billy said.

“Her having authority over the pack and the tribe Billy? She imprinted on a Cullen! We all saw it in her memories? She wants to be in bed with the enemy!”

“Shut up Sam, I told you before it’s a Cullen trick! Don’t bring it up again!”

“Bella, imprinting is part of our legend, Sam and Jared both have imprinted. Denying your imprinting could be dangerous to you.” Billy said.

It was then I started feeling a pain in my chest.

“Is there anything you require the tribe and council to do?” Sue asked.

“I don’t wish to rule over the tribe, that’s y’all’s job. You run the show, make things easier for the pack when needed. Jake you have as the most direct descendent of Ephraim Black to most right to be second in command, Leah you are the third in command, Sam and Jared, you two are respectively their seconds.”

Everybody agreed to the way I wanted the pack roles to be fulfilled. We had a long conversation about the routes the La Push pack had been patrolling. I decided how we would incorporate a forks loop. Not all the news had been good, several times Sam and the others had come across a redheaded vampire, the last time she had been accompanied by a couple of unusually strong vampires. Sue went to her house to get food and bring back the still unknowing Charlie. I sent out Billy and Jake to talk out there personal troubles. Jake had refused to come home, he had a hard time reconciling that Billy hadn’t fought harder but he agreed to visiting so that they could repair their relationship over time, Jake was also unwilling to switch schools and I had to agree with his reasoning that it was easier to keep an eye on the Cullens that way, something that had cost a short extra bit of pain in my chest. I had forced peace between Jake and Sam. We ended the evening by eating hot dogs Sue had cooked. Charlie had grudgingly accepted the assurances that everything was fine, he did not like not being let in but had understood that Jake wanted to stay with us. After the hot dog dinner we had gotten in the cruiser so Charlie could drop us off at our cars we had left at the side of the road.

The following days the pack learned to cooperate better, I made sure to always have different pairing ups out on patrol. Sam and Jared had become the resident vampire fighting instructors since they had more experience in taking them out. There was a calm through the pack that the previous La Push pack member said wasn’t present when Sam had been their Alpha, during a training session my thoughts had revealed everything Taha Aki had revealed when he spoke to the elders. Now everyone knew about the various times I had suffered from abuse, I had given a blanket order no to talk to me about it again.

We had a nice Christmas at Charlie’s with Sue, Leah, Seth and Billy. Seth had started getting temperature fluctuations, he’d be the next to join the pack, nobody was worried this time though. During the night there had been another intrusion by the redhead, by now we knew her name was Victoria and she had been with James that had attacked Sarah. The redhead had escaped us by going into Cullen territory, one of her followers though had been too out of control to follow her and had met his end thanks to Sarah, Paul and me. The others had been unable to reach us in time. But with our teamwork we had made short work of the strong vampire. Still I had made the decision to go confront the Cullens. See if we could make a change to the treaty, something that became increasingly needed. The council had agreed with my decision and informed the Cullens we would be coming to talk. I had decided to approach the Cullen house shortly before dawn. We snuck up to the house through the tree line. I let out a howl to make our presence known. Dr. Cullen, Jasper and Emmett came out to meet us. We remained in the tree line.

“Edward can you come out to translate?” Dr. Cullen asked.

Sarah and I both growled at hearing Edward was back. Edward came out and had a confused look on his face.

“Carlisle, I can’t hear any one of them.”

I shared my thoughts with my pack, it had been established already that Edward was unable to read my mind, it appeared now that I protected my packs minds as well.

“Jake I’m gonna phase so that I can converse with them. Don’t do anything unless truly provoked, we are here to modify the treaty, not to break it first.”

Jake acknowledged and I retreated backwards into the forest to have some privacy while phasing and getting dressed in my denim cut offs and sports bra. Once done I jogged back to the pack and stepped into the clearing around the house where Dr. Cullen and the others were standing, to play it safe I had kept open the link to my pack while I phased and when I had taken human form.

“Dr. Cullen, time we had a chat.”

“Please at this point you may as well call me Carlisle. Are you speaking for Sam?”

“Sam is no longer in charge of the pack, Carlisle. We need to press through a modification to the treaty. Our lands are being regularly penetrated by a redheaded vampire called Victoria, I’m sure you remember her, often times she has very strong followers with her, she seems to know precisely where the border is between our lands, she has used it too often so she can escape. From now on we would appreciate being able to continue chasing her on your land.”

“She speaks with a leader’s authority Carlisle, I can hear and feel it. Bella is the new Alpha” I heard Jasper whisper to Carlisle.

“Bella is Sarah safe? The redhead must be after her, wanting to avenge James’ death.” Edward asked.

As soon as he had asked I heard a familiar growl directed at Edward, I did not need to look back to know it was Sarah.

“Sarah, zip it! Sarah is safe no thanks to you. She doesn’t have to fear getting hurt by you again, I made sure of that, she’s a lot stronger now.” I said with a arrogant grin on my face.

Edward put two and two together, his eyes turned black.

“What have you done to her?!”

“Oh Eddie boy, I simply turned her into a wolf so she wouldn’t have to fear you or more like you coming after her, she’s a big girl now and can take care of herself. Of course, the side effect is that she probably no longer smells as your personal brand of heroine.”

Edward with his eyes still black started running towards me, to a human he would have appeared as nothing but a blur. I ran towards him just as quickly, side stepped at the split second with my right arm stretched out and threw him off balance. Once he landed on the ground I turned towards Carlisle. Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper stared at the easy with which I had taken down Edward.

“I’d strongly suggest you refrain your son from attacking me again, my wolves are getting anxious and I’d like to get down to business.”

“Yes of course, Emmett take Edward in the house.”

Due to the commotion Edward had started the rest of the Cullen family had come outside. When I looked at them, I saw Rosalie, I smiled at her and gave her a wave, she smiled back causing my heart to flutter. _Keep it together Bells, for fucks sake._ I thought to myself. I heard Alice giggle over what happened.

“So, Carlisle, would It be a problem for you if we chased vampires over the borders, we don’t intend to patrol your lands, merely to remove the obstacle of it being an escape route. Surely you don’t intend to provide safe harbor to vampires that drink human blood.”

“As long as my family remains safe, I don’t necessarily see the problem, we’ll keep a lookout as well. Victoria is a problem we caused after all.”

“if you insist on keeping a lookout, I do have to demand you stay off tribal lands, I cannot demand you stay out of forks so if you wish to patrol there I cannot stop you. Goodbye Carlisle.”

“Goodbye, Bella, if you need help feel free to reach out.”

I turned around to go into the woods to phase, as I turned I gave Rosalie one last glance, seeing her was a gift every time, for she was more fair that all the jewels on earth. After undressing and phasing I recalled my wolves and we ran back to the rez, from where a patrol would go out and I’d inform the council of the updated treaty. Along the way there were plenty of barked laughs.

“what’s going on with you guys?”

“Rosalie and Bella sitting in a tree.” Sarah started singing.

“Shut up Sarah!”

“Hey Bella why do the Cullens smell different all of a sudden? My nose wasn’t burning anymore during the meeting.” Paul asked.

“I don’t know Paul, maybe y’all are getting used to their smell

I sent Sam, Leah, and Quill out on patrol, the rest of us had some practice after I met with the council. Before heading home I stopped by Sue’s to check on Seth, it was becoming obvious that it wouldn’t be too much longer till Seth joined the pack. Sue and Leah would be keeping a close eye on him, I sent the remaining wolves home to rest and for those that were in school catch up with homework, the Council ran interference with the rez school but that doesn’t excuse them from doing as much homework as possible. We kept patrolling throughout the remainder of winter break, we hadn’t had a reason to set a paw on Cullen land yet, there had been no sign of hostile vampires. We had a new years day bonfire with the entire pack, the Council and had included Seth to ensure he’d already know the legends. It often froze and snowed at night during our patrols, fortunately this didn’t bother us, in our human form our body temperature did make It difficult to have a snowball fight, it always tended to result in a lot of half melted mushy ball shaped snow flying around. We had gone cliff diving several times in La push, the first time jumping was a little intimidating but it made for a great adrenaline rush. After a talk with Sam and Emily we had decided that the unofficial pack HQ would remain at their place, Emily had complained she would miss the cooking too much. The council kept providing her with funds to ensure we didn’t go hungry. It also prevented Charlie from getting too suspicious, after all I wanted him to be kept in the dark as long as possible, though it didn’t stop him from complaining to Sue during his regular visits to her. During a patrol with Sam he had confessed he was happier, he had never wanted the burden of leadership. He was glad It was me, said things in the pack felt better with me in charge.

Winter break was over, So we changed the patrol schedule to ensure as many wolves as possible were in school at all times. Dr. Cullen had called Billy to extend the offer of doctors notes whenever a wolf needed to be excuses from school, no questions asked. He wanted to help, understanding our situation and duty. It was something that greatly conflicted me, on the one hand it helped the wolves that attended Forks high, on the other it felt like the Cullens were trying to get closer to the pack. Alice sure as hell was doing an utmost effort to befriend us at school, we were unable to avoid her. Emmett was nearly as bad. We had also found out that after his outburst during the meeting Edward had left the family again. One good side effect to school though was every time I saw Rosalie the pain in my chest temporarily lessened. Tough it was hard I’d always resist going over to her table. Whatever trick they had played on me I wasn’t gonna give in.

The first weekend after school had started Seth phased. We all agreed there had never been a person ever to be more excited about becoming a wolf. During a training patrol Seth had given me an idea for a bonding experience for the pack. Matching tattoo’s, Leah had designed a modernized version of a old Quileute wolf symbol, with a more clear wolfs head in the centre. I had insisted every wolf thought about it carefully and ordered it to be their own choice, they were not to influence each other. Ultimately every wolf had gotten it. It was the second time that I noticed I healed more quickly than the others, the first time having been after the Alpha fight between Sam and me. My skin was harder too, it caused several needles to bend. I still had nightmares about my childhood trauma, Charlie, Jake and Sarah kept insisting I went to talk to somebody about it, but honestly privately I was afraid that if I started talking about it I would break down again. It was hard enough having to live with it.

The third Saturday of January I was out on a training patrol with Jake, Seth and Embry when we came across several sickly sweet scents, one of which was a familiar one, it was Victoria’s scent. I immediately let out my Alpha howl to alert the off duty wolves while we gave chase to the vampires. As expected Victoria headed for Cullen land again, expecting to make one of her usual easy escapes. We kept chasing her, started to catch up. We heard, Sam and Jared join us, they were still in La Push, they came our way as fast as they could. When we got close to the border of the tribal lands Victoria headed for Forks instead of dipping into Cullen land straight away. It allowed us to catch one of the vampires that was with her, we had him quickly disassembled between the 4 of us, in our thoughts we heard Sam asking if he and Jared could take care of burning the vampire. I gave him the responsibility so that we could continue chasing Victoria and the other one, we had some catching up to do. Soon we were joined by Sarah and Leah. I let Sarah join us and ordered Leah to stand guard near the police station since Charlie was at work, she also had to form a rear guard with Paul and Quill once they joined in case there was a need for them in La Push.

“Jake you and Embry take the left flank, make some distance between me and Seth in case they cut into Cullen land.”

Jake acknowledged my order and him and Embry got on our left with a eventual 500 yard distance. We kept gaining on Victoria. She decided to double back through the trees with her remaining vampire. It slowed her down but no matter how much we tried jumping we didn’t manage to jump high enough in our wolf forms to catch either one of them. By now Sarah had joined up with us. We were pretty close to the 101 highway, as we suspected Victoria and her remaining vampire jumped across into Cullen territory. She was not expecting us to give chase so she was laughing at us, since the road was clear the 5 of us shot across the highway and chased them on Cullen land, our paws thundering over the ground as we passed the Cullen house, we heard a few of the Cullens yelling that they’d help but would keep the agreement. A good way for them to say they wouldn’t cross the border without Victoria realizing that. Victoria made a beeline for the ocean. She whispered to her remaining vampire, far to faint for us to hear or for the Cullens to hear, I was a big enough woman to admit Edwards gift would’ve come in handy. Experience had thought us we lost the scent of vampires when they went into the water and even if we could remotely jump safely off the too high cliff we were approaching our wolf forms would be useless in the water.

“Run as hard as you can, we might still catch one of them!”

The wolves that were with me gave it all they had, but we all had to come to a skidding halt when Victoria and her remaining vampire had jumped off the cliff, headed for the water we assumed.

“DAMMIT!!! Alright, Sam, Jared head back to La Push, Jake you join them. Embry, Sarah, seth you’re with me, we’ll head north along the coast, keep your head on a swivel.”

I noticed Jasper, Emmett and Alice had caught up with us. I nodded in the direction I was gonna go. When I turned back to look at the wolves that were gonna come with me I saw that Victoria’s remaining vampire had climbed back up and was about to pull Seth over the edge. I felt the panic and fear from all the wolves that saw my thought and threw myself at the vampire to save Seth.

“Bella NOO!”

“Sorry Jake I had no choice, I’m responsible for Seth. Sarah take care of Charlie.”

There hadn’t been much time to say a lot so I had said what mattered, the vampire was holding onto me as we fell off the cliff. I knew It was likely that we’d end on the rocky beach, I knew enough physics to know that we had nowhere near the needed velocity to make it into the water. I had never given much thought to how I was going to die, I was always too angry or too busy, but dying in the place of someone you were duty bound to protect didn’t seem so bad. I found a peace in that thought, I phased into my human form shortly before we hit the beach. I felt the vampire holding me break into pieces and what felt like every bone in my body break as we slammed into the rocky beach. All became dark, I had done what I needed to be done and lost consciousness.

I regained consciousness shortly when cold hands were touching my mangled body.

“Her heart is still ticking, we need to get her to Carlisle.”

“Already calling him.”

“She looks really bad.”

I felt I was being lifted up and before everything went black again I spent my last thought on Rosalie, how I would have loved to hold her hand, run my hand through her beautiful golden locks and to have kissed her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.


	8. I'm still alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, after yesterdays cliffhanger it was time for a quick update, this chapter is a little different, trigger warning, illicit drug use and abuse talk in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

**Chapter 8**

**What’s broken can be mended.  
What hurts can be healed.  
And no matter how dark it gets,  
the sun is going to rise again.**

Everything had become dark. Occasionally I would feel pain, pain so severe it had me in agony, I went from heavy to light and back to heavy again. If this is death it sucks. Time has lost it’s meaning, have I been dead for a minute, an hour, a day or a week? Pain is back, I feel lighter again. I can feel my body, it hurts so bad, it feels like somebody is messing around in my chest, I feel my heart beat, it’s weak and faint. I try to open my eyes, I struggle. When I finally manage to open my eyes I see clamps on my chest holding it open, a blonde man in scrubs is working on my insides, the tube in my mouth doesn’t allow me to speak, I start making as much noise as I can, my body still too heavy to move.

“Carlisle, she’s conscious.” An angelic voice says.

“Quick more morphine and ketamine, and change that blood bag.”

I made noise but quickly the darkness pulled me back from the lights. I spent a unknown amount of time in the darkness, I was able to head back to the light.

“Her heart stopped beating, we were too late, I was unable to take care of the internal bleeding fast enough, she was bleeding faster then we could replace her blood. Rosalie, turn off the ventilator” A voice sighed. Wolves howled outside.

No, I must give a sign that I’m alive I thought as I heard clicking. Focus Bella, breather, move them lungs. As air no longer was being forced in and out of my body I made my lungs work again.

“Carlisle, she’s breathing.”

“She’s still alive, I don’t know how but she’s alive. Let’s get back to work. Set up more blood bags and force them into her, I’ll give her heart massage and do what I can with my free hand.”

When I felt my heart moving again, I was able to open my eyes slightly.

“We’re not gonna give up Bella, we’re here for you.”

The darkness reclaimed me, it felt like forever this time. I woke up in a unfamiliar room, I had expected a hospital room but this wasn’t one. It did feature equipment you’d find in a hospital room, I was hooked up to a monitor, had a airline running to my nose. Both my legs were in a cast and elevated, my left arm was in a cast, the other in a sling. My throat was dry. Everything was hurting. As I became more awake I felt a box in my right hand, I looked at the box and it had a button, I pressed the button and waited. Soon the door opened and Carlisle Cullen walked in.

“Bella glad to see you’re awake, how are you feeling?”

My dry throat made It hard to speak.

“How long.” I whispered

Carlisle walked over to the nightstand and poured a glass of water, he supported my head and moved the glass to my lips, I was able to take a sip, it immediately soothed my dry throat.

“You have been out for a week I’m afraid. Everybody will be glad to hear you regained consciousness, you had us worried for a while. I had even declared you clinically dead at a point. You are without a doubt the most extraordinary patient I ever had.”

“Charlie?” I asked a little more easily.

“Charlie thinks you had a accident, he’s at home now getting some sleep. He’s been sitting by your bedside most of the time.”

“What’s the verdict doc?”

“I have triaged you as best as I could, there’s still damage that needs to be fixed, I will need to open you up again I’m afraid. We’ve been waiting for you to gain some strength and the brain swelling to subside. But in the long run I expect you to make a full recovery. How is your pain right now? Carlisle said and asked with a compassionate look on his face.

“a 15 doc.”

Carlisle grabbed a needle and a vial and was about to inject fluid into the iv port.

“Wait, need to talk to Jake.”

He nodded and said with a concerned look on his face “Jake’s sleeping on the couch, I can wake him up if you want me to but I won’t allow you to have a long conversation, you need rest.”

“It won’t be long Carlisle.”

Carlisle left the room and soon Jake came in.

“Bella I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am you’re awake.”

“Jake how is the pack?”

“Everybody has been here camped out in the yard almost day and night, they only leave to patrol. We’ve all been so worried. It’s become a nearly daily challenge to convince Seth you won’t be angry at him, he’s feeling very guilty.”

“Jake, I need you to go get Sue, I want her, Sarah and you to tell Charlie, it’s time he know about us being wolves. Send everybody home, no more missing school, I won’t have it on my watch.”

“But Bella we need to be here for you.”

“Standing vigil for me won’t make me better Jake, all of you need to go back to your daily lives, that goes for Charlie too, he needs to go back to work, I’ll be fine.”

“Ok Bella, I’ll let the head leech know we’re finished and do what you asked, we’ll still visit though, to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“It’s gonna be ok, Jake.”

Shortly after Jake left, Carlisle came back in the room and gave me a shot of morphine, while he was talking I passed out again.

I woke back up later and it was daytime, all my casts were gone and my arm was no longer in a sling. It was difficult moving my arms and legs. Just as I tried again Charlie hesitantly came into the room. He ran over to my bed and gently gave me a light hug ensuring he didn’t lift me off the bed, it made me feel even weaker. I turned my head over to the nightstand looking at the bottle of water. It took some time but Charlie eventually got the message that I was thirsty. He poured a glass and helped me drink it.

“You had me worried there Bells, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all.”

“I’ll be ok dad, can you forgive me?”

“Jake explained what you did, there’s nothing to forgive, you did something very brave. You’re fortunate Dr. Cullen has been taking such good care of you, he saved your life Bells and they wont let me give them any money. I’ll go get him and inform your pack I believe it’s called that you’ve woken up.”

“Dad how long was I out again?”

“Nearly 2 weeks since the last time, Bells.”

“Dad you’re a mess, why haven’t you let Sarah take care of you?”

“I been spending every available amount of time at your bedside. It’s still hard to believe that you kids turn into very large dogs and that you’re in charge of them all.”

“Wolves dad, we’re wolves and we protect the area from bad people.”

“I don’t like it, it’s dangerous Bells.”

“We’ll be ok, I’m gonna be ok, dad. You should go fishing with Billy, get Sue to make you some fish fry. You need a break, I’ll be ok.

Charlie grumpily got up to get Carlisle, he said goodbye as it was nearly time for him to leave anyway, he had to go start his shift. A little later Carlisle came into the room.

“Glad to see you’re awake again Bella, I’ll give you some morphine for the pain and we’ll set up a drip to keep you comfortable. I have performed several more procedures on you and your healing has started to accelerate, you’ll need physical therapy for a while longer though, you should think about deciding whether you want to do that at home or if you want to stay here where we can take care of you day and night.” He said while checking my vitals and giving me a shot.

“Why are you doing all of this for me?”

“I live to help others Bella, it’s my passion. We would love to have you over until you’re back on your feet fully, it would be no trouble at all.”

“I have done bad things to your family, I have be--.”

Carlisle cut me off. “since the day we first met I suspected that you weren’t quite human, you should be dead with that temperature you’re running after all, I have grown fond off you despite everything, we don’t blame you for Edward leaving twice, he had been having difficulties, Edward can get obsessed from time to time, he had been lying to us before, we only discovered this after your sister got hurt. She was to him what we refer to as a singer, her blood at least before she changed was especially appealing to him. Edward got off on being around her, he mistook it for love, I’m sorry we shouldn’t have let it get that far. It’s not that we feel we have something to make up to you or Sarah but we genuinely want to help you. My family we’re different from our kind, we really do only feed on the blood of animals, it makes us different too, it allows us to live among humans so easily and interact with them and brings out the best human emotions in us. We really wouldn’t mind hosting you till you’re better. And we’ll help you in any way we can.”

“I suppose it will make things easier on Charlie.” And I’ll get to see Rosalie I thought to myself.

Carlisle smiled, he gave me the morphine, it made me drowsy but did make the pain go away. I faded in and out for a couple of hours, by lunch time Carlisle had a drip set up, it still made me drowsy but I wasn’t as sleepy. Esme came in with a tray.

“Here you go dear, Carlisle wants you to start eating again but no solids for a couple of days, I hope you like chicken soup.”

She set down the tray over my legs, the legs under it ensured it rested on the bed.

“I love all kinds of soup, I would like to apologize to you, I know I have caused trouble for your family and I’m pretty sure I caused damage to your house.

“No apology needed, you were protecting Sarah, that’s a noble goal.”

“Still I should somehow make it up to you.”

“Eat your soup and we’ll call it even dear.”

I sighed and picked up the spoon, Esme saw I was struggling and quickly took over and fed me the soup. I felt sad I had become so dependent on others. Esme reassured me that I’d soon have the strength again to eat myself. She handed me the remote of the tv in the room and asked if there was anything else she could get me, I asked for a small water bottle and a straw. At least that way I could drink myself. I spent the afternoon watching the detective show Bosch, the Cullens had a lot of channels and all streaming services available. Around dinner time Charlie arrived, Esme brought another bowl of soup, Carlisle had permitted some bread in the form of croutons. Charlie helped me to eat and respectfully excused himself to go eat downstairs due to it being time for my physical therapy. I had expected Carlisle to come in but to my surprise it was Rosalie.

“We have never been properly introduced, I’m Rosalie. I’ll be helping you with your physical therapy, Carlisle made the schedule but I have studied it in college and have a few years of experience. Unless you mind of course?”

I nearly started to drool and couldn’t stop staring at her, it wasn’t until I noticed she was becoming uncomfortable that I realized that she was waiting for me to respond.

“uh, no it’s fine by me.” I finally replied.

Rosalie smiled, no doubt she knew the effect she had on people. She started loosening up my leg muscles and arm muscles, then proceeded to do some minor strength building exercises. I was pretty sore by the time she was done, I was once again unable to speak when she said goodbye. I snapped out of my trance when Charlie came back in.

“How was it Bells?”

“Hard and tiring.”

“Carlisle and Esme told me they want you to stay here until you’re back on your feet.”

“They told me the same, it’s not taking advantage of them is it?”

“Not when they nearly twist your arm into doing it I think.”

“Then I’ll stay.”

Charlie stayed a little longer, he saw my yawning as the sign it was time to go. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep, the next day morning I got tomato soup, it was as delicious as the chicken soup had been.

“It’s delicious Esme.”

“Thank you, it’s a new recipe I tried out, it has cream cheese instead of cream in it. Adds a little extra don’t you think?”

“You cooked this?”

“Yes, I love to cook.”

“I thought you guys didn’t eat?”

“We can, but we don’t get any nutritional value out of it. the venom in our stomach dissolves the food, so there’s not really much of a point to it. We have a family dinner once in a while as a family activity if you will and some of us do like it for the taste, but mainly I cook food to give away.”

After finishing my soup Rosalie came back in for my morning PT after which the Cullen children left for school and Carlisle came to say goodbye as he was going to the hospital. I watched some TV, Esme came around lunch time with more soup and sat with me for a while, Esme was a delightful woman, truly a mother in heart and soul, it was easy to talk to her. She left when she saw I was up for a nap. After waking up it was dinner time, Charlie, Sarah and Jake were visiting, they had brought along my personal items so I could feel more at home, I had dozens of missed calls and texts from my mother, she was worried of course but still didn’t seem to fully grasp I no longer wished to talk to her. Once again soup for dinner but this time with a simple cheese sandwich. I still needed some help eating but found I had already been regaining strength. After dinner Charlie and Jake got up when Rosalie came in for my PT, a moment I had been looking forward to since this morning, Jake smiled and gave me a thumbs up on the way out. PT with Rosalie was brutal, but her presence made up for it. I had worked up the courage to try and converse with her in between exercises.

“So how was school.”

“Same old stuff, Same things being taught and boys drooling over me.”

“Why do you go to school then? And does it really bother you so much that people think you’re beautiful?”

“The younger we start out in a new place, the longer we can stay. I really like being able to stay in one place for as long as possible. And I don’t mind being thought of as beautiful, it’s just that I hate it being all that they see and the conversations they have between them after looking at me are disgusting.”

“I can understand liking to stay in a place for a while, when I stopped fighting everything and everyone I started liking Forks of all places. I heard a lot of those conversations some about myself too, wolf hearing you know, boys are disgusting creatures that’s for sure.”

Rosalie laughed and had a smile on her face for the rest of PT. When we were done she wished me a good night and left, Charlie, Sarah and Jake came back in. We talked for a while and I asked dad if he could give us a minute when they were about to leave, Jake filled me in on the latest Pack info. Jake was doing well as temporary head of the pack, the entire pack sent their best wishes and asked if they could visit. i agreed they could come over the weekend. Since I had first woken up Jake had seen to it that school attendance was as good as possible. They left and I fell asleep shortly after.

The week passed pretty quickly I was on solid foods pretty soon and with Rosalie’s help my strength was returning, it became easier to talk to Rosalie. I discovered that Rosalie was a big car nut and loved wrenching on cars, she proudly told of the project she was currently working on, a 1970 Plymouth Cuda that she was restomodding into a Hemicuda. I couldn’t always follow Rosalie when she started using technical terms, whenever she noticed she’d explain it. I yearned for the time I had with Rosalie every day, as I started getting stronger the Cullens all tried to spend a little time with me, Emmett had brought over his Xbox and installed it in my bedroom so that I would have another thing to keep me busy and played a few games with me, Alice was glad I was on the mend and revealed she hadn’t been worried because she had a vison of me set in the future the entire time, she also revealed that for some reason she could see me in her visions unlike the rest of the pack, she also desperately wanted to take me shopping when I was healed. I had a interesting conversation with Jasper, he had revealed why I had always felt so calm when I had had a session with Carlisle, he was a empath, he could manipulate peoples emotions, the old me would have been angry with him but now I was in a way grateful for those moments of calm he had provided. In turn he did say I should consider talking to someone again, I was still angry but he could feel that I was having severe emotional pain. Carlisle checked my vitals multiple times a day. PT progress was going well, by the weekend I could already easily eat myself and go to the bathroom by myself using a walker. Something I was grateful for, I had started to love Esme but frankly needing assistance to go use the bathroom was embarrassing.

The entire pack had come by on Sunday to check up on me, some of them were worried about being in the Cullen house, I had to put them at ease. The Cullens weren’t human that was a fact but it was hard to really see them as the enemy. Privately it was starting to worry me, should we really get this close to them I thought. Jake had brought my weed supply with him and gave it to me. He hadn’t been willing to risk it when he had visited with Charlie earlier in the week. Seth had been crying when they arrived, In between sobs he kept saying he was sorry, it took some time but I managed to convince him that he had nothing to be sorry for. After several hours I was in need of a afternoon nap, my pack said goodbye and left after I had given them a lecture about staying safe. Sunday evening I didn’t have PT, to let my body rest. Rosalie brought my dinner, Esme had made me a big pizza from scratch, I yelled thank you Esme as soon as Rosalie had opened the door and I saw what was for dinner, Esme quickly came up to say you’re welcome and left again.

“Do you want me to keep you company while you have dinner? Maybe we could watch a movie?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind that is.”

“I don’t, what’s your favorite movie?”

“Well errrr, it’s kinda you know. Uhm.”

“Bella I wont tell anyone and the rooms are pretty soundproof.”

“I really really love dirty dancing.”

“No way, dirty dancing is my guilty pleasure. I’ll be right back.”

Rosalie sped out of the room with vampire speed and was back in the blink of an eye holding a bluray version of dirty dancing. I was as red as the pizza sauce by now. She popped the disc into the Xbox Emmett had installed and started the movie. When the movie started Rosalie was looking around for a place to sit.

“It’s all right Rose, hop on the bed, there’s plenty of space.”

I ate my pizza while we started watching, Esme had truly outdone herself, this was without a doubt the best pizza I had ever eaten in my life. When my bottle of water was empty, Rosalie got up and took the tray away. I pressed pause.

“Aren’t you gonna stay to watch the rest of the movie?”

“Oh, yeah if you don’t mind. I’ll just quickly move the tray to the kitchen. Do you want some more water?”

“yes please.”

Soon Rosalie was back and we started watching the movie again, I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this happy, every time I took a look at Rosalie I felt bliss. I should have picked a longer movie for her to watch with me I thought, perhaps the entire lord of the rings trilogy, the extended edition versions that is. We both equally enjoyed dirty dancing. Unfortunately, the movie came to an end. Rosalie said goodnight and left after recovering her copy of dirty dancing. I was about to go to sleep when Carlisle came in for his evening vitals checks.

“I think it’s time to unhook you from the monitor and the IV, you’re able to eat and drink sufficiently now and we can switch you to pills for the pain.”

“That’s a relief, it’s rather annoying to sleep like this.”

Carlisle started unhooking all the cables and the IV.

“Carlisle, the operation and such, how do you do it? You know, the blood.”

“Years and years of practice, I never wanted to be this, I’ll tell you my story later but safe to say human blood has no appeal to me whatsoever, it doesn’t even make me thirsty anymore. Some family members struggle of course, but Rosalie and Alice have never tasted human blood.”

“So why don’t more vampires live this way?”

“It’s not easy at first and frankly few try it, the idea of not feeding on what’s our natural food source is something many have difficulty with. If they even know about it being possible. There is a coven though in Alaska that also lives as “vegetarians” we consider them our extended family.”

As he was finishing his work he gave me a shot of morphine to tie me over till morning.

“A bit much Carlisle” I slurred as I floated away to sleep.

Monday started as usual, Esme bringing me breakfast, Rose coming in for the morning PT before she headed off to school. Carlisle came with a painkiller, it wasn’t as heavy as the shot of morphine he had given the night before but still had me drowsy the entire morning. Upon my request Esme had Assisted me in taking a bath, it had previously been impossible due to all the wires, so I had to make due with sponge baths. I barely had any scars left and had thoroughly enjoyed the hot bath. For lunch Esme brought several BLT sandwiches, my famous large appetite had returned and Esme took it into consideration. She had also brought a painkiller but I had said I’d take it when the pain became too much. I got lost in thought, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I shouldn’t get this close to the Cullens, let alone this close to Rosalie who by now was on my mind 24/7. I decided I needed to relax and the pain was rearing it’s head. I grabbed a pre rolled joint and used my walker to head out on the balcony of my bedroom. I installed myself in one of the wooden outdoor chairs and sparked my joint. Soon I was starting to relax, my brain became less busy, my anger at myself for getting that close to the Cullens subsided and the pain was gone. It was still fairly cold outside but the cold didn’t bother me. The sliding window opened behind me and Carlisle sat down in the chair next to me.

“Esme called me, she was worried about you using drugs.”

“It’s medicinal Carlisle, mother natures painkiller and I needed to relax, I got myself worked up. Those pills are pretty potent, just like the IV I wanted to be pain free without feeling drowsy for once.” I said with a big grin on my face.

“I will recognize that it’s difficult to get a precise dose that works for you. This is not a regular habit of you I hope, illicit drugs can lead down a bad path Bella.”

“I’ll admit I enjoy a bit of weed or hash every now and then when I genuinely feel a need for it, I do it less since I phased, despite the things that came back to me I’m a lot less angry. Given the dislike I’m developing for morphine I don’t think I’d make a good heroin addict if id even remotely consider doing that crap, as for stimulants I have experimented with them in the past but I have to say that I prefer that slight curve in a woman’s back, the swell of a breast or the nape of her neck to quicken my heartbeat.”

“Oh, I had no idea you were gay.”

“Does that bother you?”

“We may be old Bella but we are a very progressive family, furthermore it’s been accepted in the vampire world for much longer. So, when you mentioned “the things that came back to you” do you mean childhood memories?”

“Yeah several of them aren’t all that good” I sighed and took another puff from my joint.

“Do you want to talk about them? I’m here for you if you do.”

“I, I, I…”

“It’s ok Bella, you don’t need to be afraid.”

“I was. I… was raped.” I blurted out.

“it wasn’t your fault Bella.” Carlisle said while looking at me compassionately.

It felt good to get it out for the first time, sure the pack knew about it but I had never said it to anyone. I took another puff from my joint.

“It was on going, by two different partners my mother used to have. When one nightmare was over another started.”

“it’s not your fault Bella.”

“The first one enjoyed brutalizing me, forcing me to go down on him. he’d slap me until I complied, threatened me constantly that he’d kill me if I’d tell my mother. The second one always approached me lovingly when he wanted to abuse me, when my mother had gotten together with him he had been the nicest person ever and hadn’t done anything until I trusted him, I adored him since he was the kind of stepfather you saw in the movies. Then he lovingly tucked me into bed and made his first advances, my mother was a absent one, good lawyer, shitty mother. It started with kissing me, soon It had advanced to fingering me, next he convinced me to play with his penis and eventually started having intercourse with me. Afterwards he’d always call me a little slut, that I should be ashamed of myself and that I should be thankful he didn’t reveal what a dirty little slut I was.”

“You were a defenceless child Bella, none of it is your fault. This is what you have been having nightmares over lately isn’t it?”

“Not always but often it is, it happens over and over and over again in my sleep, they keep coming back, sometimes it’s when I was a child other times its when I’m my age right now.”

“what are your other nightmares about?”

“You’re being nosey today Doc. When I was 12 I was attacked by a vampire.”

Carlisle looked at me in horror.

“The vampire bit me multiple times, the pain was, well you know what it’s like. He enjoyed it that I was withering away in pain. That’s when the spirit of Taha Aki came to me and merged with mine, his rage rapidly activated the magic in my blood and I shifted for the first time, he was in control of my body and took down the surprised vampire, he carried the pieces outside and after phasing set them on fire. He walked me back to my bed and told me that I was going to be ok. The magic stopped the venom but it appears that well, I’m not as human as my wolves are, why my healing is different, why I’m as fast as a vampire.”

“your mind built a barrier of anger to suppress all the pain you had to endure, it locked away all your bad memories. A kind of self preservation if you will.”

“I don’t know doc, I’m just tired of all of this crap. I should’ve died but I didn’t, I should’ve been dead already.”

“A lot of people are happy that you’re here Bella, You have affected a lot of people positively even if you can’t see it. You being part vampire does explain a few things.”

“Oh?”

“Bella you were legitimately dead, we later discovered your brain kept working, but you were dead, your heart had stopped beating, there barely was any blood left in you. We had worked as fast as we could but the internal damage was so severe that your accelerated healing couldn’t make up for anything, it’s why you’re still not recovered. I watched you breathe on your own, while a few bleeders on some of your organs were healing, your heart was still however. It makes sense in a way now why you kept going while technically dead. I knew in that moment you were special and that I couldn’t give up. I’m glad I didn’t give up.”

“Me too Carlisle, I feel I still have things to do. But for now I’ll settle for a nap.”

“Can I help you inside?”

I nodded and Carlisle helped me up and supported me until I was back in bed, he grabbed my walker and placed it back by my bed side.

“if you want we could resume having sessions. It’s not going to make things easier overnight but it will get better in the long run. Talking about it will help you in the long run.”

“Maybe wouldn’t be the worst idea.”

“Bella, it’s not my place to forbid you from using marihuana, but next time give Esme a warning, She got really worried.”

“I will, don’t tell Charlie please.”

“Not my place to tell, doctor patient confidentiality. Get some rest.”

“Thanks doc.”

Carlisle left my room and the calming effect from the weed and the relief of finally having told somebody about what happened to me took over and I quickly fell asleep.


	9. Crossroads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, got another update. I've started slowing things down a little for now. hope everybody enjoys. Thank you for the Kudos.

**Chapter** **9**

**Denying the truth doesn’t change the facts.**

After my nap I was graced by a short visit from Charlie and Sarah, they were loving Esme’s cooking as much as I did. Sarah had a patrol to run in the evening, something Charlie wasn’t too thrilled about, mumbling something along the lines of both his daughters turning into very large dogs.

“Wolves dad, we turn into very large wolves.” I said as they were leaving.

Charlie had a look on his face that was obvious enough to safely guess he was thinking how I had heard him. Sarah saw it too.

“Wolf hearing dad, Come on I gotta be ready in a hour.” Sarah said while ushering Charlie out of the bedroom door.

Rosalie came in a little later for my evening PT session.

“I really enjoyed watching dirty dancing with you last night.”

“I liked it too.”

Did Rosalie just say that she enjoyed spending time with me? It sent my mind into overdrive again. I had barely recognized that our session was almost over when I snapped back to reality.

“You should be ready in a day or two to start walking around with crutches.”

“So I’ll be able to leave the room then?”

“Only if you’re careful. Alright I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

With that Rosalie flew out the door, it felt like I had a gaping hole in my chest. Alice came to keep me company again, she was a nice distraction and it was hard not to get along with her. I didn’t even mind her stealing the remote to put on some fashion show. I had fallen asleep though during the third hour of her keeping me company, she had left a note on the nightstand apologizing for boring me to sleep, for a vampire that could see the future she could be oblivious sometimes. When Esme brought my breakfast, I asked her if Alice was around, not much later Alice showed up.

“You didn’t bore me to sleep Alice, I was just exhausted and before you say it, no you shouldn’t have left sooner, I enjoyed your company. Thank you for having graced me with your company last night.”

“Oh, I can drop in more often if you want.”

“Or I could drop in too, Rosalie wants me to walk on crutches soon.”

“Even better, see you tonight Bella.”

Rosalie came in with a pair of crutches and helped me to get used to them, it was difficult at first and it was clear for now that only short hauls would be possible. She did some more arm muscle building exercises. I spent the rest of the morning thinking about Rosalie and how close I was getting to the Cullens. I decided to go have a cigarette on the balcony again, so I pressed the button, Esme appeared in no time, I was still in the process of getting out of bed.

“I just wanted you to know that I was gonna go out on the balcony for a cigarette, a regular one.”

“Do you want me to keep you company? I wouldn’t mind I haven’t started on lunch anyway.”

“Sure a bit of company would be nice.”

We went out onto the balcony and sat down, I hung a cigarette from my lips and lit it.

“What’s wrong Bella?”

“It’s complicated Esme, you’re supposed to be my enemy. A part of me is uncomfortable with how close I’m getting to you guys, It’s the part that tells me you guys are dangerous and that I need to prevent y’all from being able to hurt a human. I think it’s fighting back against the part of me that likes you guys.”

“I can understand that, we are what we are despite our diet.”

“Don’t get me wrong Esme, I do like you.”

“I know dear. What would you like with your lunch? I have made tomato soup.”

“Come on Esme, how is that even a question? There’s only one thing to serve with tomato soup.”

“Grilled cheese sandwiches it is.” Esme said with a smile.

I took a nap again after lunch, Charlie and Jake came to visit during dinner, Jake filled me in on the latest pack information. Rosalie had me practice with the crutches again during PT and did more arm strength exercises, it was easier this time. Conversation swept back to the regular car talk, I was still being distracted by my internal struggle. The next morning the sun was shining after breakfast Rosalie knocked on the door.

“Bella it’s Rosalie, don’t freak out when I come in ok.”

Rosalie came in and the parts of her that were hit by sunlight sent prisms around the room, it looked like she was covered in millions of small diamonds. My jaw dropped. Rosalie was looking down.

“Rose you’re. You. Wow. You’re beautiful.”

She finally was able to look me in the eye.

“It doesn’t freak you out?”

“No it’s extraordinary, so this is why you guys cant go into the sun?”

“Yeah, do you want to get started or do you want to wait a bit? We’re all staying home from school today, Cause you know.”

“No by all means let’s get started.”

Walking around on the crutches had become easier by now. With my accelerated healing I made rapid process in my recovery, what would take others months took me only weeks. I rested a bit after PT and took a bath. When Alice showed up to keep me company, of course she was sparkling too.

“Hey Bella, wanna hang out for a bit?”

I swung my legs over the side of my bed and grabbed my crutches.

“How about a change of scenery, Alice? We could go watch a movie in the living room maybe.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for that? Do you want me to carry you?”

I looked at Alice and had to laugh at the idea of such a small girl carrying me. Alice looked at me with a stern look

“I’m sure and I’ll be fine. I know you’re very strong but the idea of you carrying me is funny sorry. Just stay close in case I’d fall ok?”

I grabbed some of my stuff and let Alice lead me out of the room. Progress was slow but steady, soon we had reached the stairs.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to carry you?” Alice asked with a concerned look on her face.

“I’m sure, just stay close in case something happens.”

As I was about to descend the first step Esme had come up the stairs.

“Bella you should let us help you, this may be a little too fast for you. What if you would fall?”

“Not you too Esme, with one of you on either side of me how can I fall? I’ll be ok regardless.”

They both realised I had made up my mind that I could do this and saw that there was no point in arguing. Progress down the stairs was slow, but I managed to make it. They escorted me to the living room and I installed myself in the couch, Esme excused herself to go make me some snacks and get me something to drink. Alice went with her and let me pick the movie, I settled for a recent release, Greyhound hoping Alice wouldn’t mind. Soon I was joined by Alice who brought me a cup of coffee. When she sat down I noticed she was also holding a cup.

“You don’t have to drink anything to make me feel more comfortable Alice.”

“I’m not, we all love hot drinks it warms us up on the inside and I like the taste of coffee.”

“Fair enough, you mind this movie?”

“It’s fine by me.”

“you want to feel warm and here I am running a steady 108 degrees, it’s almost ironic.”

Alice giggled “Yeah you would heat one of us up in no time.”

“Come on Alice, just don’t say I never do anything for you.” I said as I held out and arm indicating she could sit against me.

“it wont make you uncomfortable? I know we don’t smell good to you wolves.”

“It wont and you guys don’t smell bad, you Cullens that is, regular vampires on the other hand reek to high heavens. I don’t know why you guys smell different. Rosalie does smell the best out of all of you though, she smells like morning dew in spring with a hint of citrus and chocolate.”

Alice giggled when I mentioned Rosalie smelling the best but I decided not to make anything out of it. she took me up on my offer and cuddled next to me, sure she was a vampire but it was nice to have physical contact with somebody that wasn’t for medical reasons for a change. Esme brought out a tray with cookies and chocolates, she placed them within my reach and eyed the two of us with a smile as we were concentrated on the movie. I suddenly realized the snacks had been provided when my phone rang.

“Thank you Esme.” I said before looking at my phone’s screen. It said mom, so as had become habit I declined the call.

“You don’t want to speak with your mom? Esme asked.

“It’s not something I want to talk about Esme.” I said with a straight face.

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.” Esme said as she walked away from us.

I could feel Alice was starting to warm up as we watched the movie. I was careful when I snacked on the cookies to not get any crumbs on her.

“So how am I doing as a furnace?”

“Mmmm, you’re the best furnace ever, this is better than taking a long hot bath and I don’t have to keep changing the water either.”

I laughed and continued watching the movie until all of a sudden Alice started purring.

“Alice what the actual fuck?!”

“Language Bella!” Esme shouted from the kitchen.

“Sorry Esme.”

Alice created some distance between the two of us. “Sorry it just happened, I was so warm and comfortable.”

“It’s ok Alice, It just took me by surprise. It was unexpected. You can lean back in if you want to but I’d like to go out for a cigarette first if you don’t mind.”

“That’s a bad habit Bella.” Alice said as she helped me up.

“I highly doubt at this point that it will kill me. And I don’t smoke that much to begin with.” I joked.

“If you don’t smoke that much then why smoke to begin with?”

“I don’t know, I like a cigarette every now and then.” I said

I sat down outside and Alice kept me company, when we got back inside Emmett joined us as we continued watching the movie. A little later Esme brought lunch, a large stir fry. We had a good time hanging out until I fell asleep, my endurance still wasn’t great and Carlisle’s magic pills had a tendency to knock me out in the afternoon. When I woke up I found I had been placed flat on the couch and was covered with a blanket. After I woke up Sarah came to visit, she was clearly as fond of Alice as I had become, that little pixie could wrap everyone around her finger. Esme insisted Sarah stayed for dinner and that she took back food for Charlie and Jake. After dinner Rosalie helped me back upstairs for PT and so I could then get some rest. After PT I had asked if I could talk to Carlisle when he got home, Rosalie guaranteed she would make sure Carlisle was informed. Carlisle came up to my room when he got home from the hospital.

“I heard you wanted to talk.” He said as he came in.

“yeah.”

Carlisle took a seat and noticed that I still had to work up some courage. He started off with some casual conversation at first. Until he came up with a suggestion.

“I don’t encourage drug use but last time it was easier for you to open up, so if you want we can move our conversation to the balcony.”

I thought about it for a while and nodded in agreement. I was hurting and hadn’t taken my evening pain killer due to wanting to talk to him. Carlisle helped me up and I sat down on a chair in the balcony, rolled a joint and lit it up. Once I started to relax and the pain started to fade I was able to open up again. I talked freely about how it had started with the first abuser, how he made sure to never leave a mark, how he forced me to swallow, how he threatened me constantly, that my mother was never around and how I was left at the mercy of such a abuser when I wasn’t staying overnight with my grandmother. Carlisle never interrupted me whenever I took a break, he always reminded me that it wasn’t my fault. Early on I had heard a low hiss, it didn’t seem to come from him though. He encouraged me to continue when I started shutting down. By the time I was done I was a emotional wreck. Carlisle had tried to console me but I had displayed enough signs that made it clear I wasn’t up for being touched. I ended up saying goodnight to him and made my way to bed, when Carlisle left my room I broke out in tears, my door opened and closed. Rosalie had come in.

“Can I stay with you for a bit?” Rosalie asked hesitantly.

I patted the space next to me in the large bed and Rosalie carefully got into position. I broke down again. Rosalie carefully touched me and rubbed circles on my back. I let the waterfalls run freely as Rosalie pulled me into her lap and comforted me. I cried until I could cry no more, when I was dry sobbing Rosalie spoke up for the first time since she had asked if she could stay.

“It’s going to be ok Bella, you’re going to be ok.”

Rosalie stayed with me until I fell asleep, her delicious smell was of great comfort, it helped me calm down.

It was back to the regular schedule the next day as the Cullens went back to school, the sunny day was over. I spent my day mainly thinking. Esme sat with me from time to time, Charlie visited in the evenings, bringing Jake and Sarah with him. and the Cullens, mainly Alice regularly sat with me in the evening keeping me company. Every barrier I had erected between them and myself had started to crumble. I knew I needed to figure some things out so on Friday I sent a text to Jake asking him to come pick me up in my car since Charlie had to work late and couldn’t visit. I had become good enough that I could get around without too much difficulty with the crutches and I needed to talk to the council since I had ended up finding myself at a crossroads. None of the Cullens were happy with this, not because they didn’t want me to leave but they were afraid I wasn’t ready yet, after all I was still pretty weak at this point. They had offered a billion alternatives, even offering to leave the area for a few hours so that the council would feel comfortable coming to their house. I focused my argument efforts on the Cullen that mattered the most and had convinced Carlisle that me going was the best solution and that I’d come back and call as soon as I felt off. So after a early dinner and PT on Friday I took a quick bath and got dressed. Since I was heading out Alice had begged me to allow her to dress me up, I had been able to get her to settle down after telling her she could dye my hair, which had led to another pleading for not just dying the outgrowth but a complete color change, once again I had compromised and Alice would dye it purple fading into pink on Saturday. I dressed myself in a pair of black skinny jeans, a tank top, a grey hoody and one of my trusty leather jackets. I also threw on one of the snap caps I had in my small clothing collection here to cover up the outgrowth that had gotten pretty bad by now. Surely Alice couldn’t find my outfit too bad?

I waited for Jake downstairs, it wasn’t too long before I heard the “nissans exhaust note coming on the Cullen drive way. I got up and started the trip to the front door accompanied by Esme and Rosalie, there still was a lot of concern in the house that I’d fall. Jake stopped in front of the house and to my annoyance helped me into the car together with Esme and Rosalie. I once again assured them I’d be fine but the worried looks on their faces remained as we drove off. I cracked a window and lit a cigarette. Jake gave me a look.

“What? It’s my car bro.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders and didn’t make a thing out of it. he drove carefully, knowing the wrath he’d face if my baby got hurt.

“You know Jake, I’m pretty well connected with the cops around here so you know, you could speed a little. I’d like to get there today.”

Jake cracked a smile accelerated and put her in 4th.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this Bella? No offence but you still look pretty bad.”

“I’m fine, you’re supposed to support me in my shenanigans, I thought you were my brother from another mother…”

“The meeting will be at my dad’s place, I gotta warn you though, Sue is probably gonna hug you long and tight.”

“That figures.” I sighed.

We spent the rest of the drive going over the latest developments in the pack, we could go into more detail now, we never discussed any details in the Cullens house. The rooms may be decently soundproofed but you could hear things from time to time, and vampire hearing was just as good as our wolf hearing. The patrols hadn’t come across any red headed vamps since I got hurt. It worried me, no way would Victoria stop all of a sudden. Soon we had arrived at Billy’s house. Jake helped me out of the car and escorted me inside. Billy welcomed me and called old Quill and Sue. Once they arrived Sue lost no time coming over to me and picking me up into an embrace.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

It went on and on and on.

“Ok Sue I think you covered everything, you don’t owe me anything I would’ve done it for every member of the pack.”

Sue finally let me go so that we both could sit back down and get down to business. The council up to this point was still unaware why I had called for a meeting and why I had insisted it took place on the rez, they had been willing, even old Quill to come to the Cullens house, old Quill had even admitted I was only alive thanks to Dr. Cullen and had grown to respect me for having essentially sacrificed myself for one of the pack members. Jake had understood us getting ready as the sign to leave and finished catching up with Billy. Once we were alone billy put 4 glasses on the table, handed me a bag of chips and pulled out some soda and a bottle of whiskey for him and old Quill. Since Billy was a smoker himself I lit up a cigarette.

“Hey old man, how about some of that firewater for me?”

“You’re a minor Bella.”

“I’m also in the body that’s closer to that of a 25 year old and I literally died.”

“Oh Billy give the woman a drink if she wants one, she has every right to have one.” Sue interfered on my behalf.

Billy semi reluctantly poured a glass for me. We started off with talking about how the Cullens were treating me, when I was expected to be fully recovered, something that was a touch and go subject since as I got stronger every day, my accelerated healing kicked up a notch. If I hadn’t sustained such serious trauma and had needed that much extensive surgery I would have been healed already, but it had all been so severe that I had barely been healing the first weeks, I had merely stayed alive. Still the progress I had made in a month was progress a regular human wouldn’t make in a year provided they would have survived it. Finally it was time to cut to the chase, so I took a sip of my whiskey and started getting on topic.

“I appreciate all the concern you have for me and my recovery, I too hope to be recovered soon but that’s not why I asked for this meeting today. Due to a lack of other options I have been able to do a lot of thinking lately, the way the Cullens have treated me and the childhood trauma I have started to process have played a role in this. When Taha Aki told you my story he had only been able to testify to what he had seen, the men that had abused me during my childhood did so a multitude of times, too many times.”

Sue gasped in horror like she had when Taha Aki had shortly told my story.

“But that too is not why I’m here. I have a question to ask but first I need you to know something. I am not like the other shifters, when Taha Aki’s spirit merged with mine my body was flooded with that vampires venom. Dr Cullen is still trying to figure it out but given that I was literally clinically dead yet remained breathing and came back to life technically he suspects that the venom had partially transformed me into a vampire, he wants to analyse my DNA but I haven’t given him permission yet. In my human form I can run as fast as a vampire, I am much stronger than a regular shifter since I phased for the second time in my life. So his theory makes some sense.”

“Bella I believe that I speak for everybody that we can trust you no matter what given Taha Aki’s spirit has merged with yours” old Quill spoke up giving me the chance to take another sip of whiskey.

“Well the reason I’m here today is that I’m getting downright comfortable with the Cullens, the part of me that fights against it is losing more every day. I think it’s time I’m explained fully what imprinting really is.”

They looked at each other and determined Billy should do the explaining. Billy of course started with the legends surrounding imprinting before he started going into details. He explained how it is the most profound, intimate phenomenon that can happen to a Quileute shape shifter. That the person you imprint upon is your soulmate and the perfect match for you. He described how it felt when you imprint according to the legends and what it meant.

“When you imprint it’s hard to resist being with that person, you feel pulled towards them, it’s painful to resist the imprint, we don’t know for sure how dangerous resisting is since we have no legends of a shifter being able to stay away from the imprintee. While the shifter doesn’t have a choice, the imprintee does have a choice, perhaps outright rejection from the imprintee is something that the shifter could live with, but that is not something we have any legends on, as far as we know it’s very hard for the imprintee to not like the shifter, this is further proven by the fact the legends tell us not all imprints are romantic in nature, you’re most familiar with Sam who imprinted on Emily. However the imprinter above all else wants the imprintee to be happy, the shifter can settle for whatever the imprintee needs, whether that’s a protector, a friend or a lover. Lastly our most sacred law, is that no shifter may harm the imprintee of another shifter.”

I finished my glass of whiskey and lit another cigarette.

“I have for the longest time denied what had happened to me, I now know I imprinted upon a Cullen, our enemy, something I’m having a hard time to see lately. I wrote it down as a Cullen trick for a long time. I truly believed that, some of them are gifted after all. I forbade my pack from speaking to me about it. Never before have I been in such close proximity to the person I imprinted upon and every time I’m near that person i don’t have the feeling I have a massive hole in my chest. Months ago after I shifted again, I had a break down after the memories had come back. When I picked myself up again I went back to school, in part because I felt a need to help my sister since she wasn’t doing well either. At school I imprinted on Rosalie Hale, she is one of the Cullens. I know understand what happened.”

They all looked somewhat shocked.

“We thought Sam had said you imprinted on a Cullen because he had a hard time accepting he lost the Alpha fight between you two. We have been wondering ever since.” Billy said

“How is it possible you imprinted on a cold one?” old Quill wondered

“What do you intend to do, Bella?” Sue asked

“I will step down as Alpha I guess. I didn’t want the imprint but it is clear I cannot deny it any longer. If she would become a threat to the people on the rez or in forks I am not sure I would be able to stop her.”

“That is noble from you Bella and I’m sure Jake would make for a good Alpha, he is the descendent of my ancestor Ephraim Black after all, but I’m afraid it won’t work like that. You can’t just walk away like that, it won’t work.” Billy said.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say she becomes a threat, since she’s become your imprint she is your number one priority. Even if you wouldn’t have shifted in years, your magic would instantly activate when she’s in danger. And given what we’ve heard from the other wolves your authority is so strong that they would be unable to resist you ordering them not to attack. That’s assuming they would be able to circumvent our most sacred law.” Billy replied.

“I’d say billy is right.” old Quill joined him

“Bella do you truly believe the Cullens are a danger?” Sue asked

“I wouldn’t recommend slitting your wrist in front of them. Well unless it’s Carlisle, he’d probably patch you up and try to convince you into getting therapy so you don’t commit any other rash acts.”

“Isn’t it a fact though that you bled all over their place and that Dr Cullen kept operating on you, something he somehow manages to do for a living.”

“Yes he did keep operating on me, Rosalie assisted him I believe. They nearly ran out of blood to keep me going I guess.”

“They store blood there?!” old Quill asked worriedly.

“Yes, Carlisle explained it as it’s in case nomad vampires pass through town, he gives them a few bags of blood to help them on their way and makes sure they don’t feed in the area. They had to get extra from the hospital for me though.”

“They chase off other vampires? Why would they do that?” old Quill further inquired

“I think it’s for the same reason they feed on animals instead of people, why he works as a doctor, I guess. You know preserve human life and all that stuff.”

“Bella, if Rosalie was able to assist in all those awful and long operations you had to endure. All that blood, don’t you think she might not be the danger you’d think she is?” Sue asked

“I don’t know Sue, I’m at a loss with all of this, I came here looking for answers and I already feel that I’m gonna leave with more questions than I came in with.”

“You should follow what you believe is the right path in your heart.” Sue said

“I agree. I have faith you will always do the right thing. Your sense of doing the right thing is obvious, you wont endanger the tribe.” Billy added

“Does that mean we have to let a cold one on the reservation?!” old Quill inquired.

“Technically I believe so, the pack isn’t allowed to harm her, nor can we technically apply the treaty to her anymore.” Billy said with a confused look on his face.

“I need another drink.” I sighed.

Billy poured us another round. The meeting was over so he signalled Jake could come back in. I’d be going back to the Cullens soon anyway.

“Bella I’m not sure you should drink in your condition.” Jake said as he came in.

I had to laugh. “Jake you’re literally taking this whole being my brother and having to look out for me way to serious.”

“So you’re brother and sister now?” billy asked

“Haven’t we always been? Jake technically is a very distant relative of mine after all.”

“Speaking of that Bella, I know it’s not much but your heritage has been confirmed. There has been a vote on it and you have been officially accepted into the Quileute nation as a member. You’ll have all the advantages that come with it, same for Charlie and Sarah. You should receive your government paperwork soon.” Sue said.

“It’s official now Bella, you’re one of us and stuck with us too.” Jake laughed.”

“I don’t know what to say guys. This is unexpected to say the least. Thank you so much.”

“You only have to accept.” Billy said and smiled

We chatted for a bit longer while I finished my drink. After which I did need some assistance to get in my car. I had another cigarette on the way back to the Cullens.

“I’m gonna stop denying that I imprinted on Rosalie, Jake. It’s become too hard.”

“I figured you’d give in sooner or later. We couldn’t talk to you about it but that didn’t stop us from talking about it. The whole pack basically supports you in this, we just want you to be happy, you’ve gone through a lot, you deserve happiness. It’s a little weird given what she is though.”

“yeah tell me about it.” I mumbled.

Jake helped me to the front door when we arrived at the Cullens, 2 drinks and being tired had me on the limit. Esme opened the door and I smiled at her. She helped me upstairs and helped me get my clothes off and into my pyjamas. I was already half asleep when she tucked me in.

“goodnight Bella, sleep well.” She said and kissed me on the forehead.

“Thanks mom.” I mumbled as I dozed off.


	10. A confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers, thank you so much for the kudos and comments. I hope you all will enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 10**

**The best and most beautiful things in the world**  
cannot be seen or even heard,  
but must be felt with the heart.

I woke up a little later than usual, part of last night was a haze, though I remembered all the important things from the meeting with the council. I had made up my mind, I had imprinted on Rosalie, she’s the most important thing to me in the world, I’ll do everything I can to be near her, I will be what she needs me to be. There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Esme came in.

“Good morning Bella, I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up so I waited with breakfast. Would you like to come downstairs, I’ll make anything you want.”

“Sure, I’d love to eat downstairs.”

I slowly got out of bed, grabbed my crutches and went downstairs with Esme escorting me.

“I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself last night or were a bother, I underestimated my drinking ability somewhat.”

“Not at all dear, you behaved quite well. Is there anything in particular you want for breakfast?” She said as I took a seat at the kitchen counter.

“Uhm, whatever you have is fine, maybe a smoothie to go with it if it’s not too much trouble.” I replied and my phone rang, when I saw it said mom I declined the call as had become habit the past months. _I probably should block her number_ I thought to myself. I noticed Esme had seen it and she looked sad for a second.

“Banana peanut butter smoothie and Blueberry pancakes?”

“That sounds delicious. Yes, please.” I said and held my hand high enough to indicate she could make a big stack while smiling.

Esme started making the batter and the smoothie, since we all knew that none of us were human and I was comfortable with it she did everything at vampire speed, the batter was ready in no time and the smoothie was served.

“Where is everybody?” I asked somewhat confused the Cullen household wasn’t busy at this hour. They usually did quiet activities at night.

“Carlisle is at the hospital, Emmett and Jasper are on a hunting trip, Rose is hunting close to home and Alice is off to buy hair dye. I tried to reign her in but she said you promised her that she could dye your hair.” Esme said as she started cooking the pancakes.

“Yeah, it’s gotta be done sooner rather than later, the outgrowth is getting really bad and most of the color has faded out, I’ll make sure she sticks to what we agreed on. This smoothie is delicious by the way.”

My phone rang again and it was again my mother. I declined the call and turned on airplane mode, I had access to the Cullens WIFI after all.

“Bella, you don’t have a good relationship with your mother, do you?”

“Bad things have happened to me Esme, things I’ve been able to remember since I phased here. She let it all happen.”

Esme saw I was sad and immediately came over and gave me a hug. Whenever she touched me it always surprised me that despite being cold she felt so warm.

“I’m sorry sweetheart. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“It’s ok, Carlisle says talking helps. I just wish my mother was more like you.”

“Me too sweetheart, just know that I’m here for you. I’ll get you some pancakes.”

Quickly I started having a ever growing stack of pancakes, the were as delicious as the smoothie had been, I finished my large breakfast with a cup of coffee as Rosalie came flying in. After she cleaned up, we had our morning PT session. I enjoyed every bit of small talk we made when we were almost done I had worked up the courage to ask her the question that had been on my mind since we had started.

“So uhm, Rosalie, do you want to watch a movie tonight? I had a good time last time. You can pick one for tonight if you want to.” I asked still somewhat hesitantly.

“Yeah, we can watch one in the movie room if you want.”

“Bella, do you like nachos? I found a recipe for nachos I’ve been wanting to try out. And before you answer it’s no trouble at all.” Esme asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

“I love nachos and yeah we could watch it in the movie room.” I answered them both.

“Sound like a plan then. I gotta go pick up some car parts for my project but I’ll be back in time for your evening session. Good luck with Alice.” Rosalie answered, if not for knowing I’d see her again today the hole in my chest would have opened again.

“I opened pandora’s box, didn’t I?” I asked.

Rosalie laughed and put the PT equipment away, said goodbye and I went to sit with Esme in the kitchen she had already cleaned up. She was working on blueprint for a house, I discovered one of her passions is architecture followed by interior design. It was one of the things that she occupied most of her time with. Not much later I heard a flat six engine coming up the long driveway and turned my head towards the sound.

“That’s Alice. I sometimes forget your hearing is as good as ours.” Esme explained.

I started panicking when Alice came in with 10 bags. She quickly assured me that most of it was for her. Esme wished me good luck and I followed Alice upstairs. I had to hand it to Alice she had gotten my favourite brand of nontoxic hair dye.

“Do you want me to cut your hair too?” Alice asked

“uhm”

“I cut all the family’s hair, though I don’t get to do it that often, ours only grows a couple of inches a year. Yours seems to grow quicker than humans.”

“Could you cut it like it was when I had cut it myself?”

“Sure, one messy slightly curly bob coming up.”

Alice worked fast, very fast. In no time my hair was cut, of course she had done a better job than I did, she took me into her bathroom and washed my hair. After blow drying she started the dyeing process, when Sarah arrived to visit. I was still hesitant about the pink. The three of us chatted while Alice worked, while the dye was doing it’s work, Alice had somehow managed to rope in Sarah for a haircut. Now that I had decided to let the barriers crumble, I was rapidly becoming friends with the small pixie. Alice took me back to the bathroom and started washing the dye out. I had been wondering why she had closed the door till Alice started talking.

“I’m glad you have finally accepted how you feel about Rosalie.”

I gasped.

“Oh come on, Bella. I keep a close eye on things that will affect my family. I know you were hurting until you accepted the imprint.”

“Alice I swear if you tell Rosalie anything…”

“I won’t tell her, don’t worry. I just wanted you to know that I’m happy for you.”

Alice finished washing my hair. I had to admit the dye job looked a hundred times better than I had expected. Alice had been trying to convince Sarah to get her hair dyed too, she had finally succeeded, though Sarah had opted for a much less colorful option, she ended up getting her hair dyed blonde, hopefully Charlie wouldn’t kill her. It was lunch time when Alice was finished with us both. Esme had insisted Sarah stayed for lunch, after which Sarah said goodbye and I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging with Alice and napping cause I did not want to miss a single minute with Rosalie tonight.

When I was having dinner, Rosalie came home. She had gotten a good parts haul for her project car. I loved how enthusiastic she was about it. After I finished dinner we went upstairs and got started on PT. It was a hard session. I asked Rosalie if she was ok with me taking a bath first. She wanted to freshen up as well so that worked out. I took a bath, and put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Rosalie came by a little later and led me to the movie room.

“So what are we watching?”

“You don’t mind a classic right?

“Uh, no not really.” _I’d watch a real time train journey video with you and it would still be entertaining_ I thought to myself.

“Well one of my favourites is Breakfast at tiffany’s.” she said while holding up a copy.

Rosalie put the disc in and we got cosy on a couch together. Shortly after the movie started Esme came in with a huge platter of loaded nachos. She put it down next to me together with a dr. Pepper.

“Don’t worry if you can’t finish it, dear.”

“I do always have a large appetite.” I said with a smile.

The nachos were absolutely delicious, Rosalie and I were both enjoying the movie when all of a sudden Rosalie asked.

“you’re gay right?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Audrey Hepburn is hot?” Rosalie asked.

“Not as hot as you are.” I flapped out before I realised it happened.

“Oh? You think I’m hot Bella?

I was blushing pretty badly by now, I knew Rosalie was aware of this, she probably could sense the blood rushing to my face, my heart beating faster as I had painted myself into a corner.

“Well you know. You see, errr.”

“It’s ok Bella, just say what you think, I wont judge you.”

“Well I. Uhm, you know. Uh. You’re confident. Smart. You love cars. You know.”

“You don’t think I’m beautiful? Or am I not your type?”

“I don’t really have a type, I like people and of course you are beautiful that goes without saying.

I desperately needed to redirect.

“So do you think she’s hot?”

“Audrey Hepburn was a beautiful person inside and out.”

“Rosalie are you gay or bi?”

I was confident that if Rosalie could blush she’d be as red as a tomato.

“I never really thought about it.”

 _Let’s hope the seed of doubt I just planted will pan out_ I thought to myself.

After the movie I was dead on my feet I thanked Rosalie for spending some time with me and she wished me a good night and I fell asleep shortly. Sunday I had several visitors throughout the day, several pack members, something was telling me that Jake was hiding something from me. In the evening I had a session with Carlisle, it had been difficult to talk about what had happened to me, I was no longer protecting myself with a barrier of anger but I was good at suppressing unpleasant memories. The session was over I broke out in a full blown panic attack, it took Carlisle a while to get me to settle down.

“Bella repeat these numbers. 5 2 11 9 6 3”

“What?” I managed to get out in between hyper ventilating.

“look at me and repeat the numbers. 5 2 11 9 6 3.”

“5 2.” I continued hyperventilating.

“Good, try again.”

“5 2 11… 5 2 11 9 6 3. How did you do that?”

“The mind cant freak out and repeat numbers out of order. I simply gave your mind something fixed to focus on.”

Once he was convinced I was going to be ok for the night he left. I felt the anxiety slowly creeping back so I went out to the balcony to smoke a joint. It was helpful to a degree but it didn’t take away the sadness, I started crying again.

While I was crying my heart out on the balcony I was suddenly joined by Rosalie. She came over, picked me up, carried me inside and pulled me into her lap while I cried my heart out again while being comforted by her. When I had advanced to dry sobbing and eventually settled down thanks to Rosalie she started talking.

“I want to apologize to you, multiple times I have been able to overhear you talking to Carlisle. It was not intentional but I couldn’t stop listening because it hit close to home for me. I need you to know that you’re not alone, I had something similar happen to me. It’s not your fault Bella, what they did to you is their fault not yours. I’ll tell it to you for as long as I need to, until you believe it. when you believe it I’ll keep telling it to you until it’s become your conviction. I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Bella. It’s not your fault.”

“I’m sorry you have to put up with me.”

“I like being with you, I have grown to like you. You are a good person deep down, you may not see it but you are.”

“I’m not, I’ve done nothing but hurt people, used people.”

“I won’t dispute that. But you stood up for Sarah when nobody else would. You protected her from Edward. Edward believed Sarah was his mate and most of the family believed him. Sarah doesn’t have the same mental protection you have, but it’s really close so she intrigued him. In reality she was simply his singer. It’s why he couldn’t stop feeding on her when he was sucking James’ venom out.”

“What’s a singer? And what mental protection?”

“A singer is what we call a human who’s blood is especially appealing to a vampire, often just one vampire it can cause a vampire to go berserk, the need to feed is overwhelming and it can happen the vampire will feed in public even creating a bloodbath to be able to feed on that singer. More experienced vampires will move heaven and earth to get that singer to come with them. Your mental protection should be a given, I thought you knew Edward couldn’t read your mind. Sarah has a similar protection but it’s not as strong, with your mind he draws a blank, with hers it’s static, with occasionally a signal coming through. After Sarah had changed into a wolf she started smelling different, not like the wolves that were in La Push who used to stink before you took over but different nonetheless, she no longer appealed to Edward, he had been back for a few days and was getting increasingly angrier over it, when you told him what you did that’s why he attacked you. Carlisle is the most forgiving and compassionate person I have ever met and he is still struggling to come to terms with Edwards behaviour. You’re a good person deep down Bella, you do the right thing when it matters.”

“Thank you Rose.”

“No thanks needed. Now you should get some sleep.”

“Can you stay until I’ve fallen asleep?”

“Sure.”

Rosalie helped me under the covers, I was a wreck again. Soon the exhaustion took over and I fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning Rosalie was gone, I didn’t blame her, I had after all only asked her to stay until I fell asleep. Maybe it’s my weakened state but she makes me feel safe. Aside from the PT Rosalie and I started hanging out more often the next week, I loved every second of it. I was getting real good with the crutches and soon I’d be able to walk unsupported again. My pain was decreasing and the new pills Carlisle started giving were more balanced, leaving me less drowsy when I took them. Esme was always wanting to try out new recipes but I managed to convince her to make a few favourites, Pizza being one of them of course, pizza is life. I still slept long but I had started being able to not take naps in the afternoon. I started spending more time outside of my bedroom, it was a lonely existence otherwise, even when you spend a lot of time on social media, during the day time people are busy. It was nice to spend so much time with Esme, she involved me into her various projects and it even led to a couple of short excursions. It was during this week that the bad news came, Carlisle would have to operate on my right leg again, it would only slightly delay my recovery. He performed the procedure on Thursday, I was back on my feet by Friday. Emmett, Alice and Jasper had left for a hunting trip, somewhere to a national park that had a predator problem, though Emmett was hoping that they’d run across a bear or two as well. So during the weekend it would only be Esme, Rosalie, sometimes Carlisle and me. There would be visitors too of course, turns out visitors was a bad idea. On Saturday morning after breakfast and PT, I had taken a bath and was chilling in the living room with Rosalie when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Esme said.

Rosalie and I stayed on the couch, I heard Charlie talking Esme, Charlie and a third person were coming over. That’s when I saw her, my mother.

“Bells, your mother showed up this morning demanding to see you.” Charlie said, clearly not happy about this.

“What is she doing here?!” I said as I got of the couch.

“You don’t pick up your phone when I call you, what was I supposed to do Isabella?” my mother Veronica replied.

“Leaving me alone, it’s what you’re good at.”

“You don’t get to speak to me like that young lady.” She said as I got closer, I felt the tremors starting.

“I don’t want you in my life!”

“Oh look Charlie, she’s still just as angry, you’ve been lying to cover for her.”

“Leave Charlie out of this.”

“Oh I plan to, I’m filing paperwork with the courts on Monday to take you back to Texas and get you in a facility that can actually help you.”

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying here.”

“You haven’t changed one bit Isabella, you’re angry, you use people. Just look where you are staying for your so called recovery, you’re using these people.”

I started shaking the more she talked, I heard Esme whisper too low for Charlie or Veronica to hear “Rose, you need to calm her down, Carlisle said she’s not ready to phase yet. And if she hurts Charlie she’ll never forgive herself.” Rose came to my side and laid a hand on my shoulder, it started calming me down.

“I have changed enough to know I don’t want you in my life, leave me alone! You never wanted me, why would you want me now?!”

“I’m your mother, you can’t get rid of me. This is for the best Isabella, I cant stand by why you continue your behavior.”

Esme was about to speak up when Veronica held up a finger at Esme. The shaking started again.

“My mother, you’re not my mother. You never wanted me, I wouldn’t have been born if it wasn’t for Grandma, Charlie wouldn’t have know about my existence if it wasn’t for grandma, she’s the one who raised me, the only good childhood memories I have are thanks to grandma and Charlie. You need to leave me alone.”

“Isabella that’s enough, go get your stuff so you can leave here and stop taking advantage of these people.”

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE! I’M NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ANYONE HERE!!!”

“Isabella, I’m your mother, calm down and go get your stuff.”

My shaking had gotten more violent so Rosalie had started rubbing circles on my back and whispered to me that it would be ok, she told me to take a deep breath. I closed my eyes and did a breathing exercise.

“You’re not my mother, you gave birth to me but that’s it, don’t you ever call yourself my mother again. Esme there has been more of a mother to me than you could in a thousand years. You have no right to be here, I don’t want you here, I don’t even want you in the same state. You only cared about making money, making a good impression, what happened to me as a child is your fault, you were always absent, you didn’t care. Now you run along and go to the courts, I have discovered my heritage. Good luck in trying to take away a native American to lock her up into a place where she can be brutalised even more.”

I was focussing my anger so hard on my mother that I had opened a link to her mind and I could hear everything she was thinking at this point. I was horrified when it revealed she was aware of her partners abusing me.

“You knew?! You knew your boyfriends beat me and raped me over and over again and you did nothing?! You call yourself my mother but you didn’t even care about protecting me?!”

“Bells what are you talking about? When did that happen? Who are they?!” Charlie finally interfered.

Esme had seen her window to inject herself into the fight.

“Veronica, I need you to leave my home now, you are no longer welcome here. I will not allow you to upset Bella any further with your accusations, Bella is not taking advantage of us, we want to help her, your arrival has gotten her very upset and hopefully wont have caused a set back in the ”

Veronica turned to Esme “I’m not leaving without my daughter.”

“Chief swan I demand you trespass this woman from my house. Veronica, feel free to take whatever action you want, but we’ll fight for Bella. You will not hurt her any further, if you want to go to court then we will hire the best attorneys in the country to represent Bella and my husband as her therapist will convince the court that you are a significant danger to Bella’s wellbeing.”

Esme had gone into full mother protector role, Veronica looked shocked, Charlie was looking purple at this point.

“Veronica get into the car or I’ll have to arrest you.”

Veronica, took it as her que to leave. Charlie and Esme walked her out, Charlie made her sit in the back of the cruiser, meaning she couldn’t get out unless he opened the door. Charlie came back inside. He wanted to give me a hug but I was still too much on edge.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Sorry Bells, if you want to talk about it, I’ll always be available to you. If I had known I wouldn’t have brought her here. Do you want me to go?”

I nodded and Charlie left. Esme saw that I was falling apart and carefully approached me, when she saw that I was open to her she hugged me.

“I’m so sorry Bella, I wouldn’t have let her in if I had know. It’s going to be ok, you don’t have to go anywhere we’ll make sure of that, you’re safe here.” She whispered into my ear.

I let go of my crutches and hugged Esme back, I started crying again.

“It’s going to be ok Bella, we’re here for you, you’re not alone, you wont be hurt like that again.”

Esme held me until I was done crying. Rosalie rubbed circles on my back the entire time to help comfort me, between the two of them it didn’t take long for me to feel safe again. Sooner rather than later I was back on the couch watching tv with Rosalie who kept comforting me. Esme brought quesadillas for lunch. I managed to get them down due to Rosalie’s insistence. After lunch I wanted to get out of the house, I felt like it was choking me.

“Rose, do you want to go work on your car?”

“You need me right now, so no.”

“I can come with you, I used to hang out with Jake all the time when we worked on cars. I can help a little. I just want to get out.”

Esme had come out of the kitchen.

“Rose, why don’t you take Bella with you to your workshop, I’m sure she can use some fresh air.”

“Thank you Esme.” I said with a small smile.

“Ok I’ll go change, I’ll be right back. You can wait for me outside by the garage.”

I got up and made my way outside, lit a cigarette and waited for Rosalie. She came out a little later wearing coveralls with the upper half tied around her waist wearing a black sabbath T-shirt and her hair done up in a messy bun. She got Emmett’s jeep out of the garage.

“Earth to Bella, we can go.” She said and I realised I had been staring, hopefully I wasn’t drooling.

Once she helped me into the tall Jeep, she explained her workshop was a little too far from the house for me to walk. she drove us to her workshop and helped me out of the car. When we walked in my jaw dropped. The cars stored her were worth a fortune, 2 Ferrari’s, a couple of rare Mercedes Benz’s, a boss 427 Mustang, a Porsche 365, a Dodge Charger Daytona, a Shelby Cobra, a 62 Corvette, a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Lamborghini Murciélago. These cars alone were worth a small fortune. At the workshop end of the building there was Rosalie’s project cars, she had told me she liked to have several going at once.

“Wow, this is. Wow.”

“They are owned by various members of the family. We all kinda like cars.”

“Why are some of your projects regular beater cars? Like that’s the kind of cars Jake and I flip?”

“I love working on cars and I fix them up so we can donate them to various charities that give cars to underprivileged people.”

“That’s really nice of you actually.”

“We do what we can, a little here and there goes a long way to help a lot of people. I have something you can do that won’t be too hard for you, take a seat over there.” She said and pointed to a comfy looking chair.

I sat down and soon Rosalie came to bring me small parts to polish by hand. We spent the entire afternoon in the workshop chatting away while I polished and Rosalie. Esme brought a few beverages and some snacks since there’s no fridge or anything in a vampire’s workshop. I was allowed to play DJ and to my surprise Rosalie and I liked a lot of the same music.

“So what’s up with you and Emmett? Everybody in school thinks you two are a thing.”

“Have you taken a good look at Emmett?”

“Rosalie you know I’m gay so Emmett is totally not my type.”

“No I don’t mean it like that, he’s tall and muscular.”

“Yeah but why does that matter?”

“Come on Bella, you and Sarah went through the same thing. All the boys in school were drooling over you two. You had to fight them off. Whenever we start in a new school or a college Emmett and I play make belief. Emmett scares off the disgusting drooling boys.”

“But Emmett ain’t even scary.”

“That’s because you know him, he’s a big teddy bear it’s what I love about him but try to think like you don’t know him and that you aren’t fearless.”

“When you look at it like that I’d definitely think twice about approaching the big guy. What makes you think I’m fearless?”

“Bella, you knew we weren’t normal people, even though you didn’t know what we were exactly. Yet you didn’t hesitate to confront Edward at our table, when you caught Edward in her bedroom you didn’t hesitate coming to the house to confront him, you didn’t hesitate to go after James and kill him, sure Emmett and jasper finished it permanently by tearing the rest of his limbs off and setting him on fire but you tore his head off, when Edward couldn’t stop feeding on her you made him stop and fought him. when you came here to change the treaty you didn’t hesitate to take Edward down a notch again. And lastly, you didn’t hesitate when you threw yourself at that newborn to save Seth. Jasper was there during all those times, Jasper didn’t feel any fear coming from you, so you’re fearless and you don’t hesitate when you want to protect somebody you care about.

“Thanks I guess?”

“It’s a good thing.”

“So back to you and Emmett just pretend so you don’t have to deal with the drooling?”

“We didn’t always, I saved Emmett for all intents and purposes, he had been mauled by a bear and I carried him hundreds of miles back to Carlisle, I was afraid I couldn’t do it myself, I’ve never tasted human blood and It was already difficult enough not to feed on him given all the blood. I never wanted this life for myself, but I don’t regret saving Emmett, he enjoys every part of this life and is always so happy. We were together for some time after he was changed, but ultimately, we both came to the realisation that we work better in a brother sister relationship. But we sometimes pretend for the outside world, Like you said, Emmett is a big teddy bear, he doesn’t mind it at all.”

“Guess your death glare keeps the human chicks away from him then.”

“My death glare is only matched by yours.” Rosalie laughed.

“Really I thought mine was better.” I teased.

“In your dreams, Bella. It’s time for us to go, almost dinner time for you and I don’t want Esme to drag us both back to the house by the ear.”

“You’re lucky to have her. I know she’s not your real mom of course but you couldn’t find a better one if you tried.” I said with a sad look on my face.

“Bella, you can be so dense sometimes, don’t you realize how Esme treats you?”

“I don’t know she treats me nice.”

“Bella, she treats you just like she treats us, you should think about that.”

Rosalie took us back to the house, just in time for dinner, we didn’t talk anymore since I got lost in my own thoughts running through what we had been talking about. I was on autopilot when I ate dinner and had PT with Rosalie. I sat downstairs for a bit, Carlisle came home and checked up on me having heard what happened today. Afterwards he retreated to his office, he had clearly noticed I was running on autopilot. I decided to go take a bath. Esme had bought some new bath bombs while Rosalie and I were in her workshop. After a long soak the chaos in my head had stopped. I put on a fresh pair of sweats and a fresh t shirt. I laid down in bed when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Esme came in.

“Do you want to talk about today?”


	11. Best option

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody, I just got this chapter done, It went a little differently than I had originally intended but I hope everybody will appreciate it. I hope you all enjoy reading it. thank you so much for the Kudos and comments

**Chapter 11**

**Ever since I met you**  
no one else has been  
worth thinking about.

I nodded yes and Esme came over to sit on the bed the way a concerned mother in movies always do, you know the kind of movies you’ll see on the hallmark channel.

“I’m sorry if I caused you embarrassment today Esme. I thought I’d never see her again, that I’d never have to deal with her again. I’m so sorry if you think I used you, I never wanted to use you.” I said and broke out crying. Esme countered by hugging me.

“You have never used us sweetheart, we took you in because we wanted to help you and we still do. You don’t need to apologize for anything, because you have nothing to apologize for. You couldn’t know that that horrible person would show up. And I meant what I said, we have already contacted an attorney and have been talking to Charlie. If she tries anything we will fight for you because you’re worth it. We got you and won’t let you fall.”

Esme’s strange warmth had a calming effect on me and I was able to quickly shut off the waterfalls.

“I believe you but why?”

“We have seen a lot of bad things happen to people in our long lives, we always try to help people Bella. You needed help and we have all grown fond of you. You’re a survivor, from now on you won’t have to survive anymore, you’re gonna thrive instead.”

“I wish I would’ve had a mom like you, I only hope they know how lucky they are with you.”

“I’ve known that for a while sweetheart and they all are always thankful to me for the things I do for them so I like to think they know.”

“I love you too Esme, I think I always have, I never could get angry at you or tell you not to call me dear or sweetheart.”

“You really don’t remember do you?”

“Remember what?”

“Bella when you got back from your council meeting, I was a little upset at first that you had gotten drunk.”

“I’m sorry about that, I hadn’t taken into consideration how weak I was, I only had two drinks.” I interrupted.

“Bella you don’t have to apologize but please let me finish. Like I was saying, I was a little upset that you got drunk, not that you had a drink. I carried you upstairs, helped you get changed out of your clothes and I tucked you into bed. They often say I have a strong mother instinct and I let myself go a bit and kissed you on the forehead and wished you a good night. When I was walking out, you said ‘thanks mom’.”

My head turned red.

“It’s ok honey you don’t need to be embarrassed, I smiled all night. Carlisle said that when humans are under the influence they tend to speak their mind.”

“Esme I. Well you see. Uhm.”

“Don’t overthink it Bella, just speak your mind.”

“Thank you for everything. did you know that you feel surprisingly warm for a vampire?”

“I didn’t do anything because I wanted you to be thankful Bella, I want you to be happy. You’ve had a hard time, I want to do what I can to make things easier for you, so you can heal. I did not know that, I don’t often get to interact this closely with somebody that feels our body temperature.”

“it’s nice though and you smell good, not as good as Rosalie but you still smell good.”

“I thought we smelled bad to shifters?”

“You never smelled bad to me, hmm the old pack said that you guys smell different since I became Alpha. Just you guys though, vampires still smell sickly sweet and burn our noses.”

“That is interesting, you do know we are vampires too right?”

“Naah, you guys are Cullens. You’re not vampires.”

“Thank you Bella.”

I chatted for a while longer with Esme until she saw my heavy eyelids and that I could no longer hide my yawning.

“Time for you to go to bed sweetheart.”

I nodded and let a yawn escape in agreement and slid down the covers.

“Goodnight sweetheart.”

“Goodnight mom.” I said with a grin on my face.

I slept soundly that night, Sunday was difficult I knew I should talk to Charlie. Charlie would be awkward and would probably turn purple but I knew I had to get it over as soon as possible. I discussed it with Esme and Carlisle in the morning, they advised inviting Charlie over for dinner, that way they could act as a buffer for when things became too much for me. Charlie had agreed to it. Sunday had been very busy, several of the pack had come thundering by, I opened a connection and Victoria was back, she had 2 newborns with her again, Sam and Paul got one of them, Sarah and Leah got the other newborn but Victoria got away again, I made them stop by for a full report. As soon as we knew the wolves were chasing Victoria the Cullens had circled around me, intent to protect me. When the pack stopped by to report we had come to the realisation that we’d have to go on the offense soon, the area would forever be endangered if we didn’t seek out Victoria to destroy her, Carlisle had promised assistance, he’d need to talk to the family members that weren’t present first of course but he was willing. We started doing a murder and disappearance investigation into the northeast, Victoria had to have a base of operations after all. We’d enlist Charlie’s help if needed as a cop he had easier access to files after all. Since they had come near the end of their patrol, Sarah and Leah stayed for a while, Sam and Paul were still a little uncomfortable being around the Cullens, though Esme did convince them to try her cinnamon rolls. Sarah and Leah left around 4. Carlisle had a chat with me in his office, he wanted to reassure me as well that they wouldn’t let Veronica get her hands on me again. In this strange supernatural world I had found myself entering a while ago, who could make for better friends and allies than other supernaturals? I hung out in the kitchen watching Esme cook, she’d have harder men than Charlie like putty in her hands after this dinner. Steak, fondant potatoes and a side of marinated garlic mushrooms.

“Y’all are really gonna eat tonight?”

“I already told you that we can eat human food Bella, we just don’t get any nutritional value out of it. And tonight we need to keep up appearances, Charlie doesn’t know specifically about us but he does know he doesn’t live in the world he thought he lived in. It’s important he thinks we’re as human as possible.”

“it’s my fault, I made Jake tell Charlie.”

“It wasn’t the worst idea, Charlie was already asking too many questions, such as why you couldn’t be taken to a regular hospital, etc. It was a imperfect solution in a imperfect situation, so all things considered you did well.”

It wasn’t much later that Charlie arrived, Carlisle took Charlie to his office so they could talk in private. I hung out with Rosalie on the couch till dinner time. We all went over to the Cullens rarely used dining table, Carlisle sat at the head of the table, I went to sit next to Rosalie forcing Charlie to sit opposite of me. Charlies eye’s grew bigger and bigger as he saw the food that was served on the table.

“all the steaks are medium rare, I hope you don’t mind Charlie, Bella thought it was what you generally preferred. I”ll go get your steak sweetheart, it should be sufficiently rested.” Esme said and she grabbed my plate.

Esme brought back my plate with a large tomahawk steak on it. It was my turn to have big eyes along with Charlie, with the amount we ate at his place, steak wasn’t exactly a thing that was often on the menu, let alone a large one like this. My mouth fell open when Esme sat it down in front of me.

“Oh come on sweetheart, I couldn’t let you fill up on potatoes and mushrooms.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

We all helped ourselves to potatoes and mushrooms and started eating after Carlisle had said a silent prayer. I wondered if he’d say a prayer when he was hunting too. The steak was to die for, the potatoes and mushrooms too.

“mmm, Esme it’s so good.”

“Glad you like it dear.”

Charlie was enjoying his food. So was I, this sure was a very rare treat. The Cullens seemed to enjoy theirs too. When they and Charlie were done the chit chat conversation became more serious.

“So you guys don’t turn into large animals too right?” Charlie asked. Causing the Cullens to chuckle.

“They wish they were that cool dad, but it’s better you don’t ask questions. All you need to know it that they are good people.”

Charlie looked embarrassed as I returned to finishing my food. Once done Esme cleared off the table together with Rosalie. Charlie had attempted to help but got chided by Esme, guests shouldn’t help in her opinion. Once they were back Carlisle signalled it was time for him and Esme to talk to Charlie. So Rosalie and I got up and sat down in the living room, it was mainly an illusion for Charlie’s benefit, we’d have to move some distance away from the house to not be able to hear it.

“Charlie, I know you want Bella to file charges, she’s not ready for this. However, we do need to take Bella’s mothers threat seriously. She may or may not go to the court, so we can wait and take our chances. We have grown fond of your daughter and she needs help, I can’t give you details, but horrible things have happened to her, locking her up in a psych ward would be detrimental to Bella, I fear. Not to mention the obvious that Bella turns into a rather large wolf and has certain responsibilities because of it. She feels safe here and has started being able to open up about it during sessions. She has gotten close to Esme and the entire family has grown close to Bella during her stay here. We have several options to go on the offensive if we don’t wish to await what Veronica might do. Regardless our lawyers will be available at no cost to you. The best option according to them is that you’d sign guardianship over to us, for medical reason pertaining to Bella. It’s not conventional of course but we can do it under the broader sense of her recovery.”

“I don’t understand, you want to adopt her?”

“No, we’d have legal guardianship over her, you would remain her father of course. It would mean Veronica can’t file against you for legal custody anymore, it would be a first curveball against her. It’s not our intention to take Bella away from you, She can live with you of course if that what she wants. With everything that happened and everything that’s already going on I believe that it’s important Bella has a safe place to heal, where she can break down. You know of course from your experience as a long time police officer that I cannot disclose anything due to doctor patient confidentiality, but I can tell you that the things that happened to her are bad. I hope in time Bella will become comfortable enough that she can tell the story, testify against them. The memories of this have only recently come back to her, you remember when she was in a catatonic state several months ago, that was her brain protecting itself from the flood of memories returning, it allowed her to process what she had been through. She needs a lot of help moving forward. I know it’s a lot to think about but regardless of what you choose it’s important that you know that we will support Bella no matter what.”

Rose had been trying to stop me but I got away from her and went into the dining room.

“What the fuck is going on here? Why are you guys doing this? How can you talk about me like this without me being part of it?”

“Bella language!” Esme chided me

“Sorry Esme.” I replied causing Charlie to chuckle.

“Bells we’re trying to help you, Veronica is convinced that you’ve gotten worse behaviour wise. After we left yesterday it became clear that she’s intent on regaining legal custody and she wants to put you in a mental hospital. She only want’s to see what she wants to see. Aside from the obvious we have all seen that you have changed, you’re not the same person you were when you arrived here. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around you, well both my daughters turning into large dogs, but you have changed. The worst of you is gone and the best has surfaced. But maybe you’re right, we should include you in this conversation, your opinion matters too. I know one thing, a year ago you would have never apologized to anyone for using bad language. We should start over the conversation I guess.”

“I turn into a very large wolf dad, not a dog. And no need to restart I heard everything…”

“Bella, please take a seat.” Carlisle said and I sat down.

“Bella, you’re right, you should have a voice in this, I apologize for excluding you. Charlie will you fill her in on what you’ve told us since yesterday?” Carlisle said to me and asked Charlie.

“Bells, your mother – Veronica, was already on the warpath when she came into town, she had found out you hadn’t been getting therapy anymore from the courts now granted it was all legal, both Emily and Carlisle had officially discharged you. She refuses to believe it. Given you- Veronica’s nature and her pull as a lawyer she started investigating it. when you started to refuse answering your phone anymore it started becoming difficult convincing her that you were doing well. Carlisle covered for you when you were absent from school but she had arranged that the school notifies her. When you got hurt she called me to confront me on your absence from school, I had to tell her you got into a bad accident. When you woke up the first time I notified her, she started getting suspicious when you still wouldn’t pick up your phone as you were recovering. So she had some time in between cases and flew out here without notice. When I took her here she became convinced you were up to no good and were taking advantage of Carlisle and Esme. After your fight and Esme standing up for you, it was impossible to convince her of the opposite. She has already contacted every good lawyer about it in the entire state, even if I could afford them they wont take us on. We don’t know what she’s planning, whether she’ll hire an attorney or will do it herself but we know she’s planning something come Monday.”

“So what’s the best option? I can’t go back there.” I said with a defeated look on my face.

“The best option according to our attorneys, who can represent you due to being on retainer. Is Charlie signing over custody, we think that goes too far. We have no right to that so the second best is legal guardianship, either one means that Veronica will have to fight us instead of fighting Charlie. They believe we’ll present better given we are a married couple with a bunch of adopted children versus your dad who is a single parent and doesn’t have a lot of parenting experience. The fact that it’s your dad isn’t helpful either, the trend is shifting but if we’re not lucky a judge will preside over the case that still believes children belong with their mothers. I know this is hard for both of you but those are the best options. What you really are cannot be revealed to the outside world sweetheart, it would put you in danger.” Esme said.

I sighed and put my head in my hands. When I looked up again I looked from Charlie to Esme to Carlisle and back several times. While a conversation started between Charlie and Esme.

“Did you just call her sweetheart? Charlie asked to Esme.

“I often do.” Esme said to Charlie with a smile

“She doesn’t let anyone call her anything like that. She. I. Bells?” Charlie mumbled and called for my attention.

“Yeah dad?”

“I know you want to be involved but I need you to respect that it’s my decision. Remember when you first arrived? I told you that I want you to find happiness here, it’s been a hard road. During my visits here since the accident I can see that you found some happiness. I know you’re not a normal human girl, not exactly, I don’t know what the Cullens are. I want you to visit often as long as you’re in forks, maybe sleep over once in a while. I’m going to sign over custody to Carlisle and Esme, not because I don’t love you, but because I love you enough to do what’s best for you. And whatever gives you the best shot at happiness and staying as far from Veronica as possible is what’s best for you.” Charlie said with a sad tone.

“Dad no.”

“Charlie that’s really too much, we don’t want to take your daughter away from you.” Esme said.

“You’re not, I was confused when Bella had said that you have been more of a mother to her than Veronica ever was, but I understand now. You’re the best chance Bella has and the best chance I have at keeping to see her. Even if her other form doesn’t get discovered who knows when she’d get out of the kind of places veronica wants to put her in. I’ll pay however much child support you want. I’ll sign the paperwork right away.”

“Dad no, you can’t I need to be with you and they have already done too much for me anyway.”

We bickered back and forth. Until I started crying. Esme came over right away to comfort me and hugged me. When I had stopped crying and mumbling she stopped hugging me but did not let go of me.

“Bella sweetheart, we will never be able to do too much for you, you know that. And deep down you know that Charlie isn’t giving up on you, you can see your dad any time you want. We all just want to help you. It’s going to be ok. Will you let us help you?”

I reinitiated the hug and without thinking flapped out: “Yes mom.”

“Mom?” Charlie asked and I realised what I just said causing me to turn red.

“Sorry, I. Well. Errr, Uhm. You see. Uhm.” I didn’t know what to say.

“Bella, I think you just made your choice known. Welcome to the family.” Carlisle chuckled.

“It’s alright sweetheart, no need to be embarrassed.”

“Bells, this is for the best. But I expect you to visit regularly when you’re back on your feet.”

Esme let go of me and said to Charlie “I’ll see to it that she will.”

“Somehow I got the feeling she’ll listen to you. Carlisle when can we get the paperwork started?”

“Well the safest option is to go see our attorneys tonight if you really intend to transfer custody instead of legal guardianship. That way they can file it with the court first thing tomorrow at the start of business. and Charlie, we wont accept any child support. If you send any anyway we’ll put it into a college fund for Sarah.”

Charlie made some weird noises and mumbled something about not wanting charity under his breath.

“Charlie, it’s not charity, we want to help Bella as best as we can and we wouldn’t offer it if we couldn’t afford taking care of Bella. We can continue the conversation in the car if you wish but our answer will remain the same.”

I got up and struggled over to Charlie who got up and I hugged him. “I’m so sorry dad, I’m so sorry for the mess I made.”

Charlie wasn’t one for emotions, he carefully returned the hug. “It’s ok Bells, you didn’t cause this, you have nothing to be sorry for. At least this way I wont lose you.”

Hugging Charlie was awkward at best so we quickly let go of each other. Carlisle mentioned the three of them had to leave. I went back to the couch to sit with Rosalie after waving them goodbye. I started crying again, It was a strange mix of sad tears going into happy tears from time to time and ending in happy tears. It was in a way cruel to Charlie but part of me was screaming from happiness that I wouldn’t lose Rosalie. Rosalie comforted me the entire time. When It was clear I was no longer crying from sadness she let go of me and asked.

“Why are you smiling?”

“I won’t be forced to leave forks anymore. I’ve grown to like this place.”

“I can relate.” Rose said with a smile.

We watched some TV and it wasn’t until Emmett, Jasper and Alice came home that I realised Rose and I were holding hands. Alice came running in and jumped on my lap grabbing me into a hug.

“Errr Alice?”

“I’m glad that you decided to be my sister.”

“Welcome to the family Bella!” Emmett and Jasper said in unison.

“She foresaw this happening didn’t she?”

“Alice’s visions are subjective of course, but she knew when the choice was made. She forced us to hurry back.” Jasper clarified

After Alice let go of me they all quickly got a shower, changed and came downstairs again to watch tv with Rosalie and me while we all chatted. Alice was determined to get a room ready for me together with Esme. One that was personalised, I had been staying in one of the guest rooms. I had succeeded in delaying my bed time but by the time the third yawn escaped Rosalie insisted I needed my rest and said I either went upstairs by myself or she’d carry me up. I relented and went upstairs. I fell asleep quickly, it had been an exhausting emotional weekend.

The paperwork was filed first thing on Monday, Esme gladly broke the news that they expected the custody to be transferred in less than a week and if Veronica would file anything that she would have filed wrong paperwork due to the custody transfer. Jasper had in the evening privately revealed that he had known of my love for Esme for a while now, that I should never be afraid of having a mother daughter relationship with her because Esme loved me too. The PT went well and I was able to get around with just a cane to support my right leg which had suffered a little set back from the additional surgery but overall much of my strength had returned I had already spun into the accidental superspeed again a couple of times, so I knew I had to start paying attention to my pacing again. The pack had received the custody news with mixed reactions, though overall they were all happy I wouldn’t be taken away nor that our nature was revealed. Seeing a large wolf is one thing and if you talk about having seen one people will often dismiss it. But seeing a person turn into a large wolf is something else entirely. Halfway through the week Esme and Alice had already finished my new room. I was shocked, it was twice the size as the guest room I had been staying in, featured a walk in closet, a king bed, a desk, a large tv, a sound system, a balcony. The decorations fit me perfectly too. Esme had done up one of the walls in large band posters, and it had a overall purple black and white theme. On Thursday the news had come through that the judge had signed off on the custody transfer. On Friday they had gotten all my stuff from Charlie’s who came with to say hello. I still felt so bad, I texted Sarah to ask her how he was doing. She texted back that while Charlie wished things had gone differently, he was happy for me.

On Saturday I hung out in the workshop with Rosalie when I heard a familiar car approach. I got up with my cane and walked to the door. When I went out my suspicions were confirmed, Jake was driving my car with Sarah in the passenger seat.

“Jake wtf? Not cool bro.” I said to him when he got out.

“Hey, Hey don’t shoot the delivery driver. Since you live here now and you’re getting better Charlie figured you’d need your car. I can ride over your bike too if you want. And Bella we need to talk.”

“Well thanks I guess and yeah ride her over. I’ve been meaning to talk to you too, what have you been hiding from me?” I said and Sarah got out too.

“Bella please don’t freak out ok.” Sarah said and soon I was joined by a worried Rosalie.

“Bella what’s going on?”

“I don’t know but these two have been hiding something, we’re about to find out though.”

“Bella, you know we don’t have a choice in this.” Jake sighed.

“You imprinted on my sister?!!!”

“And I imprinted on him.” Sarah replied.

“When? Why didn’t you tell this earlier?!”

“I imprinted on Sarah first time I saw her after I phased. I didn’t know what it was. Sarah imprinted on me when she had phased the first time, when we discovered what happened to us, it was clear what your opinion was on imprinting so we kept it secret. I’m sorry for that.”

“Jake if you break her heart I’ll break your neck.”

“Bella you know I can’t.”

“Sarah the same goes for you, Jake is like a brother to me.”

I started laughing so hard and long I had tears in my eyes and Rosalie had to support me or I would’ve fallen on the ground. It took a while for me to come to, cause every time I looked at them I started laughing again.

“Sarah, Jake. Hahahahaha, you have to, hahahahahaha, tell Charlie, hahahahaha, and I want to, hahahahahaha be there.” I finally managed to get out.

Sarah and Jake didn’t look forward to that. We hung out together for a while, Rosalie insisted on inspecting my car and doing an oil change before it would be put in the houses garage. Jake was as much in awe with her workshop and the cars in there as Rosalie was impressed with the work that had been done on the Nissan.

“Not bad work for a dog.” Rosalie teased

“Nice workshop for a leech.” Jake teased back causing Sarah and I to roll our eyes.

They stayed for a bit and chatted while Rosalie worked on the Z she made notes of some things that would need to be maintained soon and the parts she’d need. Jake offered to help her but Rosalie reminded him that she doesn’t actually sleep.

“Ain’t that annoying not being able to sleep?”

“We can come close though, it’s like a deep meditative state I suppose. It can be refreshing to do when we feel mentally fatigued. But it’s not like actual sleep.”

“interesting.”

“So where have you hidden the coffins for you guys to “sleep” in?” Sarah teased Rosalie.

Rose rolled her eyes and finished the oil change. Jake and Sarah had to go off on patrol so they left. Rosalie encouraged me to drive my car back to the house. It wasn’t easy but I managed to get it done, fortunately there was still room in the garage. When Rosalie went upstairs to shower and change, Alice took my hand and dragged me outside, lifted me up and carried me into the woods.

“Ok we’re far enough that nobody can hear us.” She said as she put me down carefully.

“Alice what are you doing?”

“Bella, when are you going to ask out Rosalie?”

“Wait what?”

“Come on Bella, we aren’t idiots. When are you going to ask her?”

“Alice I. Look Rosalie is my friend, I don’t want to ruin that.”

“Bella, you don’t see the effect you have on Rosalie?”

“What do you mean Alice?”

“Rosalie used to be stand offish, downright hostile sometimes, she was called the ice queen for a reason. You seemed to have thawed her. You should ask her out on a date.”

“Uhm, I need to think about it.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision and will ask her out on a date.”

As fast as Alice was done speaking she lifted me back up and ran me back towards the house. When I gave her the death glare after she put me down, Alice mouthed at me that Rosalie and I are made for each other. I death glared her even harder and went to hang out in the kitchen with Esme till it was dinner time. Afterwards i walked up the stairs and went over to Emmett’s room. I knocked and said

“You better not be playing with yourself cause I’m coming in.”

Fortunately Emmett was playing a video game and wasn’t playing with himself though what I said caused him to go off into his bouldering laugh. I hung out with him until I was tired. I spent most of Sunday lost in my thoughts after I had another brutal session with Carlisle. It had been somewhat easier this time as we had touched on the night I was attacked by a vampire. Esme had suggested on Sunday that I’d try to go back to school. It was almost spring break so I could go in part time, I had been home-schooled by the Cullens during my absence and had already taken the needed tests there would be a few classes I could attend to get used to it again, Classes that didn’t have any upcoming tests. By Sunday night I had worked up the courage to ask out Rosalie. I went over to Rosalie’s room and politely knocked on her door.

“Come in.”


	12. It's a date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, thank you for reading. hope you all enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 12**

**I wish I could explain how your eyes, how  
the sound of your voice gives me butterflies.  
How your smile makes my heart skip a beat  
and how every time I’m with you,  
I feel so complete.**

I entered Rosalie’s room, she was laying on a long chair reading a car magazine. I approached and leant on my cane, I didn’t know what to do with myself. _This is a bad idea Bella, what if you lose her as a friend what will you do then. Get it together Bella, Rosalie won’t be treating you different if she says no, her saying no is the worst thing that can happen._ I thought to myself.

“Bella why don’t you take a seat.” Rosalie said while pointing at her desk chair.

I grabbed the chair and moved it over to be a little closer to Rosalie and sat down in it.

“Well, uh, where do I start. So I’m getting better and soon I should be completely fine, though Carlisle insists on using the cane as a prop for a while. You know keeping up appearances and all that. Errr, I, uhm.”

 _Focus Bella, you got this. You have a no, you might get a yes._ I thought to myself.

“So I was wondering if. Uhm.”

“You want me to go out with you?” Rosalie said and I looked at the floor, feeling as my face was rapidly reaching the approximate color of a tomato.

“Yeah, I, you know thought it might be nice.” I said barely looking up.

“You’re cute when you’re like this you know that? And yes I’ll go out with you, but only when you’re fully recovered.” She said.

“Really?! I need to go plan. I promise you’ll have a good time. Goodnight Rose.” I said and quickly put the desk chair back in it’s place before I walked out with Rosalie politely chuckling due to my awkward behavior. I headed towards Alice’s room. I was about to knock when the door opened and the little pixie said

“told you so. So what do you have planned?”

I went over the plans I had with Alice and she gave some tips before sending me to my room, I was never good at hiding the visible signs that I’m tired. I woke up on Monday, having 2 classes the last one being shared with Rosalie, Spanish after lunch, I’d make my own way to school, having gotten my car again after all though Esme offered to drive me and pick me up again. The story that had been told was I slipped during a cross country run and had taken a bad fall. After PT with Rose and breakfast with Esme I went to take a nice hot bath, and got dressed. I feared that Alice soon would get her claws in me and would cause the largely empty walk in closet to get filled. But for now I’d get away with a pair of ripped skinny jeans, an old band shirt and a trusty leather jacket on top, for shoes I picked a pair of converse, the flat soles helped with stability and to cover my roots I went with a baseball cap. I hung with Esme till it was time to go to school, a single class before lunch and a single class after lunch. I’d miss Esme’s cooking during lunch that’s for sure. I said my goodbyes and headed to the garage. With my now largely as a prop cane. I was kinda exited to see some people again.

I drove at high ish speed to school. once there I went to check in at the schools office, after I parked in between Emmett’s jeep and Rosalie’s BMW, the student body tended to avoid parking anywhere near the much more expensive than the average car in Forks that the Cullen’s drove. Mrs. Cope was glad to see me again and was glad I was getting better. She wished me well and gave my modified schedule for this week, the school had grouped together the classes that were still being taught so I’d never have long gaps. I made my way over to the art class that had been shifted to the hour before lunch on Monday. I started running into people there were more ‘glad to see you’re doing better Bella’s’ than I could count. It turned out I shared this class with Jake and Alice. The teacher welcomed me back and gave me a 1 hour project while the rest continued on the projects they had already been working on. The difference between the quality of Jake and Alice’s work was hilarious. Soon it was lunch time, the cafeteria was a long way and since I had agreed to using what was rapidly becoming a prop cane in public progress was slow but Jake and Alice stayed with me the entire time. Alice had understood when I chose to sit with my old lunch group and would convey it to the rest of my new ‘family’. In a town as small as forks it hadn’t taken long for the word to spread that Chief Swan had transferred custody of his angry rebellious daughter to the Cullens for medical reasons and to prevent his ex from being able to take me away. If there had been a popularity contest in Forks for best parents Carlisle & Esme would be ranking on top now tied with Charlie for his sacrifice. Jake had carried my well heaped tray to our table. Jessica was eying me as I sat down.

“Why isn’t Bella sitting with her new family?” she asked to the group.

“I’m right here so why don’t you ask me? Jealousy is so not a good look for you Jess.” I responded causing the whole table to laugh at Jessica.

A quick glance to the Cullen table showed that they were all smiling, even Jasper who as I had learned still had difficulty being around so many people at once cracked a smile on his usually stoic looking face at school. With Jess put back in her place the glad to see you back on your feet conversation started. I opened a link with Sarah and Jake to get the latest pack information, there had been no sightings near, I had been messing with the idea of extending the range we patrolled, to change things up. Jake who was still my Beta had been having similar ideas, I merged his ideas with mine and gave the order to implement it before I closed the link. The school food really was crap compared to Esme’s cooking, she has been spoiling me. Angela of course was the happiest to see me again, she had been wanting to visit the entire time.

“Sorry Angie, Carlisle restricted my visiting hours so that I could focus on healing and physical therapy etc.”

“It’s ok, we should probably exchange numbers so we can text each other next time.” She said and I grabbed her phone and sent a text to myself.

Lunch had been nice to catch up with my mostly human friends. Rosalie had showed up near the end to clear off my tray and help me to Spanish. Mrs Goff was thrilled that I was back, due to my roots and where I grew up I was as close to a native Spanish speaker as you could find, especially in Forks. The class as usual was easy and as always I enjoyed looking at and listening to Rosalie. She had wanted to walk me back to the car after class, but I insisted she went to go take her test. I dropped by the office to let Mrs. Cope know I was heading home, she noted it my file so that it was officially let out of school early. Once in my car I called Esme.

“Is something wrong Bella?”

“No I figured I’d pick up some coffee and visit Charlie at the station, I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn’t be home right after school.”

“Is it just a social visit or should I come too.”

“Just a social, I don’t think I’m ready for anything else.”

“ok sweetheart, drive safe.”

“I will, see you soon.”

I drove over to the local coffee shop and got a regular black coffee and a macchiato latte with 2 extra espresso shots to go and a couple of donuts. Once at the station officer mark immediately buzzed me in after I had signalled him to stay quiet. I managed to surprise Charlie in his office.

“Not watching or reading about sports, chief?”

“Bells, what are you doing here?”

“trying to catch the chief of police off guard and get some compromising evidence on him, unfortunately he was doing police work so I’ll just bribe him with coffee and a donut. Dad I dropped by to give you a visit after school, you silly old man.” I said and Charlie had to let out a chuckle.

“Take a seat. And I’m not old.”

“And I don’t turn into a very large wolf.” I joked as I sat down causing Charlie to look around in a panic.

“Bells, you can’t make joke’s like that, there’s reports of large animal attacks in the state. It’s not you guys is it?”

“Dad how could you think that? We protect people.”

“Sorry bells but I had to ask. Hows it going with the Cullens.”

“It’s a double edged blade I guess, I love being there but I feel bad about not being with you, like I’m letting you down.”

“Bella you have to stop blaming yourself, it’s not like you lost me or like I lost you, you can visit anytime you want. And this is the best option to keep you out of the nuthouse. And well I have to be honest, they make you happy in a way I cant, seeing you happy makes me happy. Let go of your bad feeling about this. So first day back at school?”

“Thanks dad. It’s only part time that I’m going, I’m exempted from the tests because I had already taken them under Esme’s tuition, so I only have to attend the few classes that are still being taught. Esme wanted me to go. It was nice seeing some people again. I guess my supposed accident must have shook Forks pretty badly, I got nothing but glad to see you again’s all day long.”

“It did, Carlisle had to insists on no visitors, nobody could see how bad you were, or how quickly you recovered. Whole town was rooting for you Bells.”

We chatted for a good hour while having our coffee and donut. It was time for Charlie to head out of the station for some routine police work. I thanked Mark for having played along. And left the station with Charlie before we parted ways.

“See you soon dad.”

“You should come have dinner soon.”

“I will, go catch the bad guys.”

I went back to the Cullens house. Or rather, home I guess. Parked in the garage and went inside. Esme asked me about my day. And I had a usual afternoon till my new brothers and sisters came home from school. I should have known that Alice had foreseen what I wanted to ask her. She came into the kitchen grabbed my hand.

“Come with me.” she said.

“I’ve created a golem, haven’t I?” I asked to Esme with a smile.

“Alice, don’t go overboard.”

“I won’t I’ll do just enough.”

Alice when set on a path could be a near unstoppable force of nature. There was no point in debating it, the best option was to just go with. She had also determined my hair really needed a touch up. So once we were in her room I was immediately subjected to a hair dye touch up, apparently she was disappointed I had gone to school like this. When the dye was sitting and working it’s magic she started talking.

“So what are you planning?”

“you don’t know?”

“Bella, I’m not going to continue explaining every time how the visions work, pay attention next time. I only know you wanted to talk to me about it, I didn’t see the conversation. Rose is making a quick trip for car parts so you can speak freely.”

“Ok, does Rose like to dance? Like older type of dancing none of that nightclub stuff.”

“I think she’d like that, what else?”

“Well I know Rose loves movies so I was thinking of taking her to a vintage movie theater in Seattle and follow it up with going to a Jazz club or something. Maybe a walk or something too while we’re there?”

“You’re not taking her to dinner?”

“Well I know you guys don’t need to eat, so.”

“So you’ll prefer to starve. Bella, you know we can eat food, we just don’t get any nutrition from it, throw in a restaurant that fits in with the evening you want Rose to have. Rose will have no issue eating a bite and she’ll enjoy it because she’s with you. And how exactly do you think you’ll get into a jazz club? You’re a minor.”

“I got a decent fake ID Alice.”

“Bella, I’ve seen your fake, it’s only convincing around here where they rarely see a barely decent one, it wont work in Seattle. I’ll make sure Jasper get’s you a good one along with the rest of your paperwork and I’ll make sure Rosalie will have hers on her.”

“Wait what paperwork? Rose has a fake ID?”

“Bella, we’re vampires, we don’t age, none of us have exactly real identities, it’s all carefully fabricated, the ID’s themselves are real though. And the paperwork is something Esme wanted to be done for you so don’t worry about it.”

“Do you think Rose would like what I have planned?”

“She’ll love it.”

“Uhm, Alice. I don’t know how to dance. I mean I’m decent at salsa dancing, my grandma thought me but that’s about it.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you. I assume you’ll want to lead so that Rose feels like a lady the entire evening.”

“Yes and thank you.”

From that day onwards dancing lessons were added to my daily curriculum of school and vampire history from Carlisle, it was the strictest kept secret in the Cullen house. Alice was a good teacher and I was pretty much fully recovered, the cane had truly become a prop at this point. Rosalie still did some PT to lay down the finishing touches. On Thursday I figured it was time to talk to Carlisle about phasing. I was dying to run like a wolf again, my energy had returned and I felt a responsibility to patrol once in a while again. Esme would prefer I wouldn’t, she was worried I’d get hurt again but she understood my responsibility. I knocked on Carlisle’s office door when he had come home. He gave me permission to enter and was about to head to the corner where we did the therapy sessions.

“Oh no, that’s not why I’m here. I wanted to ask you something.”

“How can I help?”

“Well I was wondering when I’d be allowed to phase. Outside of course, I’m sure phasing inside again would make falling off a cliff seem like a walk in the park compared to Esme chiding me.”

“I don’t really know the answer to that, if I’ll be fully honest with you. You seem well enough I think, your strength has returned, all your last x-rays were good. So if you think you’re ready you should try it I guess.”

“Not the answer I was expecting.”

“There weren’t any shifter part vampire anatomy and science courses in the medical universities I attended.” Carlisle joked

“Well given how well you winged it, perhaps you can write the curriculum.” I said with a smile.

“Just for safety I’d advise you have one of us close when you shift the first time. Just to be sure that you have help if something goes wrong. But I think it will be fine.”

“Well no time like the present. I’ll go get changed.”

I used my superspeed to get to my room, undressed and put on a pair of cutoffs, a sports bra and grabbed one of my braided leather strings. And went downstairs into Carlisle’s office again. In a matter of seconds.

“Ready?” I asked him.

Esme came into the office.

“Bella, no speeding in the house unless it’s an emergency, be careful ok?”

“Sorry I guess I got a little excited, I will I just wanna stretch my legs.”

“Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”

“Uhm well, we gotta carry our clothes with us, shoes are awkward to carry.”

“I’ll put your slippers by the garage door for when you come back in. be safe.”

“Thank you, I will.”

Carlisle led the way into a small opening in the forest and gave me some privacy. He had of course seen me in all my glory with all the work he had done but he was a modest man and would never try to take advantage.

“Carlisle, if this works and I feel I’m fine I’ll head towards the rez, if that’s ok?”

“That’s fine, I’ll go for a quick hunt while I’m out if my services wont be needed.”

I undressed and tied my clothes to my leg. As soon as I thought of phasing I exploded and landed on all fours. I heard several pack voices immediately saying Bella is back. And Carlisle came out into the clearing.

“I take It that it went well and you feel good?”

I nodded in response and barked a laugh.

“Be safe. Say hi to everybody for us.”

I nodded again and shot off towards the rez, the patrolling wolves, Leah, Quill and Seth reported they were nearly finished and were close to me, as if I didn’t sense that. I let out a loud Alpha howl and headed towards Emily’s house.

“Bella, you asked Rosalie out on a date!!!”

“Shut up Leah.”

Soon we were joined by a increasingly growing number of wolves, all excited I was on all fours again. I made them all go towards Emily’s house, Sam asked if he could phase back to give her the news, I told him to grab her and head to the bonfire and call the council. Once we were all assembled at the bon fire everybody was excited I was back, Jake and Sarah were the last to arrive together with Billy who needed help to get there. Old Quill wasn’t too happy with my current living situation. I reminded him that like the Cullens, we had to keep our existence secret too. The modified patrols had turned up interesting results, a few times they had come close to getting Victoria. I modified the patrol schedule and received unfortunate news, 2 young boys on the rez had developed a fever, everybody shared the same concern, they were only 12 years old, almost 13. It was too young and the legends didn’t give any answers as to why the pack was getting so large, nor anything on how to prevent them from phasing. We’d keep an eye on them and when the time would come train them, but I made my decision they’d only be allowed to patrol tribal lands, to keep them safe. Everybody knew the danger, hunting vampires was no joke. We modified the patrol schedule, our regular patrols would be in pairs from now on, to keep everybody rested and we’d do random extended patrols. I had also asked the council to think about a formal alliance with the Cullens. There was a willingness for them to help out with patrols and it might be helpful to corner Victoria, they were after all already working with us on research, it had gotten results already, we just were unable to catch her every time. All in all we had fun at the bon fire, the hot dogs were good mainly due to the company, the entire pack was happy I finally accepted my imprint. Even old Quill was happy for me, guess Sue must have been buttering him up. I had privately asked Sue to spend even more time with Charlie, given my living situation, I hoped that she had gotten my hidden meaning, that I approve of her and Charlie. Soon a few hours had passed and it was time to go, I wasn’t up for a patrol yet, Sarah and Jake got Billy home. After saying goodbye I went into the woods to phase and ran back to the cu- home I ran home. Paul was patrolling with Sarah so he was anxiously waiting in his wolf forms for her to join. Once she did I told em both to stay safe. Soon I was just outside the Cu- my home. I phased back, got dressed and ran into the garage to put on the waiting slippers. I had run in dirt after all and I didn’t want to clean the floors. Esme was about to start with a evening snack figuring I was hungry. I went upstairs for a quick shower and changed into regular clothes before going back downstair to eat the food Esme had prepared. Friday I only had one class, I had wanted to skip it but I just couldn’t when I thought of Esme. On Saturday I spent the morning practicing with Alice, the afternoon hanging out with Rosalie as we worked on my car and when Jake arrived with my bike I went over to Charlie’s with him for dinner, fortunately Sarah had cooked. In the evening Jake and I went out on patrol. Since It was spring break there was more time for a lot of training and patrolling. Finally I had approached Rosalie on the first week to set out date that wasn’t called a date on Sunday.

Sunday started off normally, get up, east breakfast, hang out a bit, help out with Esme. Emmett and Jasper weren’t home yet from their hunting trip. Esme had called me into the kitchen before lunch where she and Carlisle had the paperwork Alice had told about. It consisted of a number of extensive fake identities with the appropriate ID’s all laid out on the counter.

“Sweetheart now that you’re living with us we decided you needed to get some of the same protections we have, a couple of identities, one older and the accompanying credit cards, birth certificates, drivers licenses and international passports for both. We have added you to the family bank account and got a additional credit card for you on the plan the family uses, so that you can cover your expenses. You should until told otherwise use only the debit and credit card issued in your name, the other ones are for emergencies. It hasn’t happened before but in case we need to flee forks you’ll be able to come with us if you want to, and you’ll have to start using a new identity from then on. I hope it wont be needed but it’s best we’re prepared. Aside from your credit card and debit card you should put everything in a safe place in your room.”

“Esme I can’t accept this. I’m gonna go back to the car hustle to support myself, you guys already do way too much for me.”

“Sweetheart as long as you’re with us you don’t have to worry about anything, we believe you already have enough on your plate as is.” Esme said.

“I’m sorry but it’s too much. I can’t accept this.”

“Bella, I’ll be honest with you about our finances, this is a centurion black card. It has no limit and is accepted everywhere, we have these credit cards because we are more than rich enough to be amongst the few in the world eligible for the plan. Having a eternity to work and not needing sleep allows us to make a nice amount of money, on top of that Alice’s gift allows her to accurately predict trends on the stock market. You really should not feel bad at all about accepting, we want you to use it. Even if you spend big it wont affect the families finances. If you want to go out and buy a expensive sports car we wont mind at all, we only request you keep a low profile in Forks.” Carlisle intervened.

“It’s too much I’m sorry.”

“Sweetheart is this about Veronica and or how you sometimes think of yourself?” Esme asked.

I hung my head and was on the verge of tears. Esme was immediately by my side and pulled me into her arms.

“Sweetheart, don’t let that nasty woman get to you, you’re not taking advantage of us. You’re getting an equal treatment as the rest of our kids. No more, no less. Can you please accept it for me? and forget about what Veronica said. We love you and we want you to be happy.”

I had nearly broke down into sobbing when Esme had pulled me into her arms. I was often torn in between thinking they loved me and wanted to help me or on the bad days thinking I was taking advantage of them. Veronica’s words often still burned in my mind. Her holding me was comforting, the scale started leaning back towards them loving a screw up like me and wanting to help me. Soon we had been joined in the kitchen by Alice.

“Bella, you’ve been a member of this family for a while now, you have accepted the downsides, you have accepted and fulfil the requirements on a daily basis, it’s time you accept the privileges that come with it. I don’t want to take it that far, but I’ll speak to you as some kind of dutch aunt for as long as it takes until you accept all of it, instead of talking to you as your sister.” Alice said

“She’s not gonna let this go is she?” I whispered as silently as possible to Esme.

“She won’t and neither will we.”

“Bella be a good sister and grab your paperwork, carry the ones in your name and put the rest away in your room.”

I sighed.

“It’s unfair to gang up on a person like this…”

They spent some more time convincing me that I shouldn’t be ashamed or afraid to accept it, let alone be ashamed or afraid to use it, that I would get comfortable to it in time. I ended up giving in, mainly because I had my date that’s not a date with Rosalie today and didn’t want to have a mood. After accepting Esme started on lunch while I put away my new stuff. I put the 22 year old drivers license in my bag for tonight.

After lunch I was having kittens, Esme and Carlisle noticed some thing was up. I went upstairs to start picking out my outfit and start getting ready. I started off by getting my hair roots touched up while that was working I went to the walk in closet and started pulling out clothes. Trying to make combinations. 3 PM was starting to creep closer and I still had nothing. I went to wash out the dye and took a bath to calm my nerves. After my bath I wrapped myself in a towel and went back to trying to choose underwear. I was getting desperate and grabbed my phone to shoot Alice a help text. Before I could send it Alice came through the door holding a couple of hangers with clothes and a couple of boxes.

“Alice I need help but it’s creepy when you do it like this.”

“We don’t have time for this. Go into the bathroom and put this on.” She said as she handed me a hanger with a blue lace dress. And a pair of boy shorts.

“Alice are you kiddi-“

“Bella do what I say, go put them on now.”

Arguing with Alice could be a futile exercise sometimes, I went into the bathroom unwrapped my towel and threw it in the hamper and quickly put on the Victoria’s secret boy shorts and the lace dress. At least I’ve tried it on, now I can argue. What is she thinking? I don’t really wear dresses and this thing was definitely showing cleavage. I went back into the bedroom to argue with her.

“Bella don’t, put this on.” She said handing me a cropped leather jacket of. I put it on. And Alice pulled me in front of the mirror in the walk in closet.

“It’s perfect Alice.”

“Of course, it is, I bought it for you weeks ago. Now do you want to wear leggings or will you just wear the ankle boots, I advise just the ankle boots since you have nice legs.”

Not really having worn leggings before I answered just the boots and before I knew it Alice had dragged me back to the bathroom to do my hair. After some work with a hairdryer and some product she was done, it was my usual messy bob but a little more refined. She put on some minimal make up and then she dragged me back to the bedroom and made me sit down on the bed. She opened the box to pull out a pair of black ankle boots.

“I deliberately chose a lower heel so you feel more comfortable in them and won’t be worrying that you’ll tower above Rosalie, which you definitely should worry about.” she said as she put them on my feet.

She finished it by opening the last box and pulled out a elegant purse, the kind that holds the essentials. She grabbed my drivers licenses out of my own bag and frowned as she put them in there.

“Bella, you’re out of time to argue, where is your black card.”

I pointed at the desk drawer in defeat. She quickly retrieved it and put it in the small purse along with my phone.

“I have verified the places you picked but changed your restaurant reservations, you don’t need to skimp, this is one of the reasons the family got you the card, treat Rosalie to a good time and have fun.” She said as she pulled me up, put the purse in my hands and smiled at her work as she stepped back.

“You’re a life saver, Alice. Good thing you make up for being the worlds most annoying sister sometimes. I hope Rose isn’t underdressed now.”

“Bella, ye of little faith, who do you think dressed Rosalie? She was having just as much trouble as you had. Now go wait down by the stairs, Rosalie will be down soon.

I went downstairs, leaving behind the prop cane in my room, we were going to Seattle after all. As I was waiting Emmett and Jasper came in back from their hunting trip.

“Well, you dress up nice darling, Alice must have gotten to you. Going somewhere?” Jasper asked letting out a bit of his southern accent. I gave him the death glare and he held up his hands in defeat.

Esme and Carlisle came into the living room with a curious look on their face. At that moment Rosalie came down the stairs. She was wearing a shoulder less blue dress, with stiletto heels, her long gorgeous golden locks slightly curled and draped over her shoulder. She truly was the most perfect woman on earth, definitely more fair than all the jewels on earth. My mouth fell open till Rosalie got downstairs and caused me to snap back to reality. We both turned to face the room, a smiling Alice had joined Jasper’s side.

“I take it you two are going out?” Esme asked.

“What are your intentions with my daughter?” Carlisle joined her.

“Yes, we’re going to Seattle. Nothing but honorable ones I assure you.” I replied thinking that I hadn’t thought this true. I looked up at Rosalie who was giving a mild death glare to Carlisle and Esme.

“Rose don’t do that.”

Esme and Carlisle’s serious façade broke and they let out a little laugh.

Esme stepped forward with a smile and took both our hands. “We approve, have fun you two.”

“Thanks mom.” I said with a smile as I hooked my arm through Rose’s and led us to my car.

I had feared a little Rosalie would have minded taking my car but she gracefully slid into the passenger side. I got in as well and hit the button that opened the garage door. When I started the car Rosalie turned to me.

“Is this a date, as in a actual date?”

“Yeah I think so, unless you mind.”

“I don’t mind, I’ve been dying to find out what you have planned.”

“You’ll find out. You’re very beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you. You’re very beautiful too, though the dress is unexpected.”

“Thank you. I had a case of the Alice Cullen happen to me.” I said as I drove out and headed down the long driveway.


	13. The date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi gang, i'm very tired so i'm posting this with little editing done, hopefully there's not too many mistakes. Enjoy reading.

**Chapter 13**

**Just when it seems like life is getting good,**  
something has to always come along  
and ruin it.

We made it down the Cullen driveway and onto the highway.

“you don’t mind if I do a little speeding right?”

“No problem at all, show me what your baby can do, I’ve been curious since I got my hands on it. You love this car don’t you?

I started pushing the gas pedal harder and switched gears. “I know it’s maybe a little strange but yeah, she was a write off when we bought her, putting her back together, doing the mods and the way she drives, I guess I got attached to her.”

“Oh so your car is a girl?”

“Of course, she’s too refined to be a dude.

Rose let out a small laugh.

“So Rose, since you like that this is a date does that mean you are gay or bi?”

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about ever since the first time you asked it, I know I avoided your question back then. But it didn’t stop me from thinking about it. It’s something I never thought about in my human life, times were different mind you and the way I was raised it never really occurred. But since I’ve been thinking about it, digging into the vague human memories I don’t think I’m that straight anymore and you’re a fun person to be with.”

“Really you think I’m a fun person? And what led you to think you’re not that straight?”

“You make me laugh and I feel different when you’re around, so yes you’re a fun person. When I went through my memories I started realizing there we some women that I didn’t just find beautiful but downright attractive but that wasn’t enough to realize it, when I was 14 I kissed my best friend Vera. You know how it is, to practice, I guess it’s something girls still do. I realize now that I liked it, you know kissing a girl. More so than the boys I kissed. So I guess at the least I’m not that straight. What about you?”

“I didn’t exactly fit the norm of a girl when I was growing up, I mean I haven’t worn a dress in ages, I’d throw hissy fits as a kid when veronica or grandma would want to put me in a dress, it wasn’t until the Alicegator got to me at least. But when I became sexually active if you will I did some experimentation, I was more attracted to girls and liked having sex or kissing them a lot more. Well at least when I became sexually active voluntarily. I wondered some time ago if I was gay because of what happened to me but Carlisle said it doesn’t work that way, you’re born gay, bi or straight. It’s not a subconscious choice due to childhood trauma. Sorry I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

“It’s ok, it’s a part of both of us.”

“It wasn’t you fault” we both said simultaneously causing us to chuckle.

“Well I think I’ll have to thank the Alicegator as you call her when we get back home, you should wear a dress more often Bella, you look good in one.”

“Thanks Rose, I’ll think about it.”

“So what’s your dream travel destination?

“I don’t know, I never really thought about that. Do you got a place in mind?”

“Well over the years we have done a lot of travel, but I’d like to go back to Paris, we can often go out during the daytime there when it’s winter time, it’s a beautiful city and full of life. Maybe I could take you one day.”

“Oh? Already making plans for us two in the future?”

“Well you know, just thinking out loud.” Rosalie said nervously

We kept chatting away the entire time while driving to Seattle, I had to stop at a gas station, I was getting a dry mouth from talking, after quickly filling the tank we went inside so I could pay, I grabbed a large water bottle and a snack, when I went to pay I noticed Rosalie looking in disapproval when I used my old prepaid credit card. We got back on the road and made good progress and soon boarded the ferry to Seattle.

“I’m glad you said yes Rose.”

“Oh?”

“I like being with you, just like this.”

“I like it too. So what’s the first thing you got planned?

“We’re going to the movies. Don’t bother thinking about the movies currently playing in the theaters, I got a surprise for you.” I said with a smile.

Soon we arrived to the vintage movie theater I had picked out. I hope Rose would love it. I parked the Nissan, got out and hurried over to the passenger door so that I could open it for Rose. She had waited patiently, we both knew she was more than capable to open it herself and get out by herself but Rose came from a time where such gestures were appreciated. As we walked towards the entrance, I noticed that with rose’s high heels there wasn’t too much of a height difference. Rose suddenly stopped as she saw the board with the movies that were playing tonight with the times.

“Casablanca? We’re watching Casablanca? How did you know?”

“I didn’t, but I know you love the classics, and it’s one of the greatest classics. I haven’t seen it yet myself so I figured why not take you with me to a movie theater that’s preserved in the same condition as it was when the movie was released. The kind where you might have seen the movie for the first time.”

“That’s, wow. Bella you.”

“You’re lost for words for a change, this is a new experience for me.”

“It’s very thoughtful of you, thank you.”

We went inside after buying our tickets, buying a few snacks and drinks before heading into the theater, Rose was loving it. An employee guided us to our seats. Clearly eyeing Rosalie I shot him my death glare. When we sat down in the comfy seats rose turned her head.

“He was checking you out too, you know. You’re far prettier than you think Bella.”

I blushed and said “Thank you.”

Soon the movie had started, the parts I saw were good but I often couldn’t help peek at Rosalie. when she passed her soda and snack to me she had caught me staring.

“Watch the movie Bella, you have plenty of time to watch me.” Rosalie whispered low enough that nobody else could hear.

I paid more attention to the movie from then on, Rose was right I had plenty of time to look at her, I could pay some attention to the remainder of the movie. I had to admit it was a good movie. _Should I hold her hand_ I thought to myself. _What’s the worst that could happen? She pulls her hand back?_ Carefully I moved my hand closer to hers but I ended up chickening out, afraid it would ruin the rest of the date. As I pulled my hand back I noticed in the corner of my eye that Rosalie was looking at me. Her hand grabbed mine and intertwined our fingers. I shyly smiled at her only to see she was smiling at me before we both turned our attention back to the movie. Her cold hand felt so good in my warm hand, it felt right. I could have sat her forever holding hands and would have been content.

When the movie was finished we went outside and walked hand in hand back to the car. I again opened the door for Rosalie and closed it once she was in the car, hurrying over to drivers side to get in myself.

“Rose, Alice made dinner reservations, I hope you wont mind.”

“Of course not, you have to eat. Where are we headed?”

“It’s a place called Canlis, she cancelled the reservations I had made and made reservations there behind my back. I don’t know if it’s gonna be any good so if you don’t want to join in please don’t feel like you have to.”

“Bella, Canlis is one of the best restaurants in Seattle. I’ll gladly join in. It should be delicious.”

“It’s gonna be expensive isn’t it?”

“You didn’t bring your black card?”

“She forced it onto me, put it in my purse.”

“Bella come on, you shouldn’t take issue with it, the entire family wants you to have it. besides what you’ll be spending on me tonight, Alice will make back in like less than a minute.”

“Ok, I’ll try to let it go.” I said as I punched in the address on google maps.

I backed out of the parking spot and started following the instructions.

“So any other surprises aside from dinner?”

“Just one.” I said with a smile

We chatted about things while underway.

“So what is it like turning into a wolf?”

“It hurts, you know, your bones break, stretch and reheal and all that stuff. But it helps if you phase quickly, no other wolf can do it as fast as I can, though Jake is pretty good at it. But it also feels good, you know after a while without phasing it feels like the animal inside gets a little restless. The legends tell us that we can stop phasing when we want and when that happens we start aging again.”

“So you can get older?”

“That’s the problem, I don’t know. Carlisle doesn’t have any answers either. Don’t forget my speed, my strength is like a vampires and that’s because I’m partially one for all intents and purposes, sure phasing neutralized the venom but it still caused long term effects. Carlisle suspects I can’t die given what happened, so the prospect of being a shriveled up 200 year old raisin isn’t something to look forward to if I do age. Biologically I’m more like in my early 20’s already, then again Carlisle suspects and I follow him in this from personal experience that I have been in my early 20’s biologically for a while. After I was attacked by that vampire the phasing made me grow up quickly, the anger suppressed a lot, but didn’t stop the physical changes such as getting taller, stronger, more muscular.”

“So why not just keep phasing? I’m sure you can keep staying with us.”

“It’s the current plan. In a way I envy you guys sometimes.”

“Why?! We are monsters.”

“You’re not a monster Rose. And I envy you guys because you don’t have a boatload of questions about yourselves that you have to worry about, you know what you are, you have the answers.”

“Thank you Bella, but we’re monsters because of what we are, vampires. We’ll help you get answers, I promise.”

“I disagree, you’re not vampires, they are monsters, you choose to live compassionately that makes you not a monster. You’re not quite human but I’m certainly not one to judge, but you’re most certainly not a monster.”

“Thank you Bella.” Rose said while looking down.

I felt awkward at the turn our conversation had taken. So I quickly changed the subject before we got to the restaurant. When we arrived at the restaurant it was obviously an expensive place, I cursed Alice’s name. I opened Roses door and offered her my arm as we walked inside.

“Good evening, welcome to Canlis. Under which name did you reserve your table?”

“Well my sister reserved for us, so it might be under her name Alice Cullen.” I explained

“Oh yes, please follow me to the private dining room.”

We looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders and followed the hostess. She took us to a room in the back that contained a table set for two. She handed us a drinks menu.

“Your sister has given careful instructions for the menu per your personal diets, the chefs can get started on it right away, if you want I can call over the sommelier if you want to have tailored wines with your food.”

“Uhm I’ll just have sparkling water.”

“Same for me, we could start immediately if that’s ok with you?”

“Yes, well start right away.”

“I hope you’ll enjoy your menu, a waiter will be here shortly with your drinks.” The hostess said and she retreated from the room.

Rose and I turned our heads to look at each other “Alice” we said simultaneously and burst into laughter not recovering until the waiter arrived with our sparkling water. He had brought a table bottle and with our permission left it in a ice bucket. Soon the first course arrived, it was delicious and so were the rest of the courses, it seemed Alice had gotten blood in every course. Rosalie was happy.

“You know it’s not the same as going out hunting but it’s nice to eat this delicious food and know I get a little nutrition out of it.”

“Not the same?”

“Well, when we you know. A frenzy can take over. We’re at our most dangerous then.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I really had no idea this was possible to be honest.”

“So is it making you less thirsty?”

“I went out last night, I didn’t know what to expect today. But to be honest I never really had much trouble with my thirst, I’ve never done it the other way.”

We stopped talking as we heard the waiter approaching the door with the first of our desert courses, he politely set down our plates and explained they were chinese blood cakes. Once he left I wanted to continue the conversation but Rosalie changed the subject, her curious nature surfaced again.

“So what’s the last surprise. Sorry I should be less curious and let you surprise me.”

“It is one of your working points.” I replied and laughed. When we had had our last desert course the waiter brought the bill. _Jesus wept Alice, a thousand five hundred fucking bucks!!!_ I thought to myself. There was no way I could cover this without using the card the Cullen’s had given me. Rosalie noticed the look on my face but didn’t say anything. _I’m gonna use the card but Alice will be paying Carlisle and Esme back, with a fine._ I thought to myself, she created this expensive mess. I filled in the tip part and wrote down a 100, looking up at the waiter and I added another zero. I wasn’t familiar with tipping in expensive restaurants let alone in a private room or with a entirely custom menu but surely at 66 percent I couldn’t be a cheapskate. I pulled the centurion black card out of my purse and said I’d pay with American express. The waiter excused himself saying he’d be right back with the card reader.

“Alice is gonna pay Carlisle and Esme back, with a fine, she created this situation and forced me into spending that money.”

“Oh Bella, if you use the card or Alice does it’s the same account that pays off at the end of the month. Carlisle has the main card and we all have a card as authorized users. The card your about to pay with costs more than you’re going to pay for our meal, tip included. Can you please stop being afraid to use it? Do it for me?”

“Ok but only for small stuff, I wont let Alice trick me into a expensive menu again as much as I have enjoyed it, the company was even better.

The waiter came back in with the card reader, I took it from him and paid. Rose and I got up and headed out. Once we were both back in the card I entered the route to the last surprise I had in store for Rose. It was a short drive to the club.

“Can you guess yet?”

“No.”

“Just make sure you have your older than 20 ID handy, we’re not supposed to be there.”

Rosalie gave me a look of curiosity as I drove up to the club, her door was opened, I opened mine and got out taking the slip from the valet. I got around to rose, hooked my arm through hers and looked at her.

“Well darling. We’re going dancing.”

“You can dance?”

“Well I did learn the Salsa from my grandma when I was young, but ive been practicing daily for weeks with Alice for the style of dancing tonight.” I said as we walked to the entrance.

“You two look a little young, I’ll need to see some ID.” The bouncer said firmly. We both immediately handed our older than 20 drivers licenses, he inspected them but couldn’t find fault with them. Of course he couldn’t, these were basically real ID’s they were real identities. “Alright, have fun you two.”

He opened the door and rose could hear the Jazz music. I led her in and she started smiling.

“I knew you’d like it darling.”

“Darling huh, somebody is getting cocky and bringing out her accent. But yes I love it. This is amazing, the whole day has been.”

“I wanted our first date that wasn’t a date at first to be like if we had met when you were 18.”

“You have succeeded.”

Rosalie and I went onto the dance floor and danced for half an hour easy, we stopped when we felt too many eyes were on us. And went over to the bar.

“Bella, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then let me drive on the way home and have a drink, I wont tell Esme.”

I pondered for a second. _She does have super fast reflexes, great eyesight and great hearing. She’s a car lover too and wouldn’t want to put as much as a scratch on my baby._ I thought to myself. I got the valet slip out of my purse and handed it to rose. When we were at the bar, the bartender came over.

“What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a old fashioned.” I looked at Rose.

“Water for me I’m driving.”

We soon got our drinks, I paid with the cash I had gotten from an atm earlier. We got ourselves a couple of seats and sipped on them while chatting away. Soon our drinks were finished and we went dancing again. We truly were the stars of the club that night. Alice had been a way better teacher than I thought. We stayed for a couple of hours, I had a couple of old fashioned’s total before we headed out again. We were waiting for the valet to bring my baby.

“Bella today was amazing, thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome darling.”

Rose was about to tip the valet, a force of habit of course. I grabbed the key and gave him a 50 for bringing my baby back in pristine condition and having gently driven her. He complimented the car while I gave Rosalie the key.

“A promise is a promise darling.” I said to Rose as I got in.

We started heading to the ferry terminal. Rose was driving carefully but speeding a little, this was the big city after all. Soon we were on the ferry and kept chatting. I had to admit the alcohol had given me a confidence boost so as we were about to get off the ferry again I leaned over the center console. Rose leaned in too, it was a fairly chaste kiss, but lasted long enough that the people behind us started honking. Her delicious scent lingered in my mouth as we stopped the kiss and Rose started driving.

“Rose I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“No, you shouldn’t be sorry, it was good. I liked it, I loved it actually.”

“You did? Does that mean I haven’t just ruined my chance at a second date?

“Not at all Bella, but if we are to go forward I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, I’ll do anything.” The wolf in me was very excited at this point.

“Bella there’s a problem, It’s not you, it’s me.”

“Rose darling, you’re perfect, there is no problem.”

“That’s not what I mean, it has to do with what I am.”

“Rose you know I don’t take issue with what you guys are.”

“Bella please let me finish, I need you to talk to Carlisle, there’s something he needs to explain to you about vampires, it’s something you don’t know yet. It’s either going to be a big deal or not. Once he explained it to you I want you to take your time to think it over before you give me an answer, can you please just do that for me?”

“I’ll do it Rose, but it’s not something physical that I should be worried about right? Like it’s not that one of us is in danger? I’s it my blood?”

“No silly, you’re blood doesn’t appeal to me, don’t get me wrong I love your scent, you smell like the forest after it rained, with hints of coffee and cinnamon, there’s also a sweetness to it. But your blood doesn’t appeal to me, being around you doesn’t make me thirsty. And neither of us is in imminent danger if we’d go forward, there’s just some things you need to know before we do go forward and I need you to carefully think about them.”

“Ok.” I said a little sadly.

We drove for a bit, rose was putting her foot down so progress was pretty fast. As it was pretty late at this point I had a yawn escape.

“Bella we still have a way to go, you should take a nap, I promise I’ll wake you up before we’re home.”

“Rose?”

“Yes.”

“You smell good too, like morning dew in spring with hints of citrus and chocolate. It’s a nice smell. Comforting…

While asleep in the speeding car I had a dream, a dream for once instead of a nightmare. I was sitting in a grass field by a river with Rose in my arms. It was a sunny day and she was sparkling in the sun. Just as we were about to kiss I was woken up from my dream.

“Bella we’re almost home.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes a little and straightened myself in the bucket seat.

“I was just having a nice dream.”

“Hmmm I’m willing to bet it was about me.”

“How did you know?”

“Bella, you talk in your sleep, I didn’t expect you to be asleep that deeply that quickly, you said my name multiple times. At first I thought you were awake, it took me a some time to realize you were that firmly asleep.”

“I don’t talk in my sleep.” I said with a attempted confident look on my blushing face.

“It’s ok Bella, I thought it was very cute.”

Rosalie hadn’t lied about almost being home, but as we approached the house we knew something was up. There was some damage to the house, Rose parked in front of the front door and we both rushed out of the car to go inside before a familiar scent hit us. Edward was here. We rushed inside to find the house having been damaged. Esme was dry sobbing with Carlisle trying to comfort her, I used my superspeed to get to her. Jasper was standing in front of Alice in a defensive posture. Everybody was looking sad. I held Esme in my trembling arms and pulled her in close.

“Mom what happened?”

Calling her mom had been enough to get Esme’s full attention.

“Edward came home sweetheart.”

“Did he do this?”

“He started it!” Emmett yelled.

I shot him an immediate death glare that made it clear to him to sit down and shut up.

“Mom why did he do this?”

“Sweetheart we were so happy to see him when he came home, for the first hour all our thoughts were filled with how happy we were that he was home and that we hoped he would stay. When the thoughts had started to wander he realized you didn’t just come here but that you lived here. He got angry and became confrontational. Then he found out that you were out on a date with Rose. Carlisle tried so hard to talk him down, but eventually he got violent, he ripped Carlisle’s head off and when he went for Alice, Jasper and Emmett started fighting him. He did a lot of damage before he got away.”

“I’m sorry mom, this is all my fault.”

“Bella, this is not your fault. Edward has changed somehow, I don’t recognize my son anymore.” Carlisle said.

“Sweetheart it’s not your fault. Please don’t leave because of him.”

“I wont leave if you don’t want me to.”

I held Esme till she had processed through all that had happened. I helped out a bit with cleaning up. Esme no longer had a unbroken vase in this part of the house and several windows were broken. A chore list was made of who’d get what come morning and who would fix things. Esme was still distraught.

“Hey mom, I know you guys can’t actually sleep but I think you should go to bed and do that deep meditative thing you guys can do, to clear your head you know.”

“you should go to bed too Bella, you’re dead on your feet.”

We walked upstairs together and before we were about to part ways I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a hug again, she was able to hug me back this time. We stood there like that for a few minutes and before I let go of her I said “I love you mom, I’m so sorry this happened.”

“I love you too sweetheart but it’s not your fault. I’m just glad you weren’t here for this.”

“It’s gonna be ok mom, I hope you feel better in the morning. Goodnight.”

“Sleep well sweetheart, don’t let it affect your sleep. I hope you had a nice date at least.”

“I’ll do my best. And it was the best date, I’ll tell you all about it later.”

We let go of each other and parted ways, everybody downstairs were smiling at us. I went to my room and used the facilities, got undressed and took off my make up. Fortunately the rooms, or at least mine had been unaffected by Edward, as far as I could smell he hadn’t even been here. I got into bed and a wave of overwhelming guilt came flooding over me. It prevented me from falling asleep. As I was getting close to crying there was a knock on my door.

“Come in.”

Alice and Jasper came in.

“It’s really not your fault Bella.” Jasper said and it started becoming obvious he was starting to affect my emotions.

“Jasper is right, Bella. I had been unable to for see it. Edward has changed, we don’t even recognize him anymore.”

“Do you want us to stay a bit?” Jasper asked.

I nodded. They stayed a while, jasper kept affecting my emotions and they kept convincing me that it wasn’t my fault, even Carlisle had stepped in for a bit after he had checked on Esme. He too stated it wasn’t my fault. Eventually I started believing them and was able to fall asleep. Though he could have, It wasn’t due to Jasper, he hadn’t used his gift to make me fall asleep, he had merely taken the guilt away so that they could have talked sense into me.

It had been a difficult night and it was late in the morning when Rose came to wake me up.

“Bella, you need to come downstairs, Alice has something she needs to tell all of us. It’s important.”

“I’ll be right there. How is Esme?”

“She’s much better, you really helped her a lot last night.”

I went into the bathroom, used the toilet and threw some water in my face. After a quick wash I went downstairs. Everybody was gathered in the cleaned up living room that was already undergoing repairs. I went to stand next to Esme.

“Alice what’s going on?” I asked her.

“Edward is going to the Volturi.”

“The vampire world royalty Carlisle told me of?”

“Yes, he’s going to see them and is going to tell them about you. Caius will believe it immediately due to his grudge against werewolves.”

“The Volturi know about the pack?”

“They don’t, they don’t know about shifters, they’ll think you’re children of the moon, actual werewolves. And then they’ll come here.”

“Why?”

“Werewolves are one of the Volturi’s biggest enemy, Caius has hunted them into near extinction, he’ll want you dead and all of us for being involved.”

“So what do we do?”

“Convince them you’re not a child of the moon, Aro is an old friend so he’ll most likely come with them to confront us.” Carlisle said.

“I should go inform my pack.” I said.

“It’s best they stay out of it, if the guard comes out it would be a bad fight if we can’t convince them.” Carlisle sighed.

“Should we inform the Denali’s?” Esme asked.

“I don’t want them to die with us if the worst happens.” Carlisle said.

There was some more talk about it, before I went back upstairs to get properly dressed, I grabbed my back pack and threw in some essentials, one of my international passports along with the accompanying drivers license and some spare clothes along with a pair of wolf clothes. I knew how Alice’s visions worked so I carefully only thought about going to Charlies to pick up Jake.

I told everybody I’d be back by evening. That bought me enough time. _I will protect Rose, my family and pack at all cost._ I thought while driving away.


	14. Volterra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, it's a pretty long one today, hope you all enjoy it.

**Chapter 14**

**True love is built on sacrifice and that sacrifice  
often means putting others’ needs  
above your own.**

I carefully kept thinking my only decision is to talk to Jake, see what he says, while driving towards Charlie’s house. Jake had done a long extra patrol so he’d still be asleep. There had been no signs of Victoria though, I would have been informed otherwise. I knew though that once I was with him or even Sarah, that I would be safe from Alice’s visions for the time being. Soon I pulled up at Charlie’s house, he was out off to work, which was a good thing. I let myself in and went up to Jake’s room, he was still sleeping but I had to wake him up.

“Jake.”

He was still well asleep.

“Jake!”

He moved a little, but stayed asleep. I pinched his arm. Causing him to wake up immediately and he jerked out of bed. Once he was aware of my presence, he relaxed a little.

“What’s going on Bella? Is it the redhead leech?”

“No Jake, but I need you help. Trouble is coming and I need to prevent it from reaching Forks.” We need to go now so get dressed.”

Jake quickly got dressed.

“What kind of trouble is coming?”

“A vampire army of sorts, The vampires are basically ruled by a ‘royalty’ there’s three of them according to Carlisle, Aro, Caius and Marcus. Together they form the Volturi. They enforce the rules in leech world. The rules generally boil down to one main rule that’s the most important, the leeches have to keep their existence secret, they cannot reveal to the world what they are.”

“Did the Cullens break that rule? And how do you know all of this?”

“Not necessarily, I’ll explain it all in a bit. Carlisle lived with them several centuries ago for a couple of decades, it didn’t work out due to their difference in diet, he got tired of them trying to convert him to his natural food source and they got tired of his attempts to convince them to live more humanely. But he remained on friendly terms with Aro, the essential leader of the Volturi.”

Jake, now fully dressed followed me into my old room where I loosened the floorboard with my emergency cash. Then he followed me downstairs, I got paper, envelopes and a pen out of a cupboard.

“Where was I? Ah yes. Now in order to enforce the rules the Volturi have the guard. The guards numbers are hard to say correctly at any given time since there are members coming and going, the higher guard members are essentially always in the guard though. And according to Carlisle in case of an emergency former members of the guard are often quick to temporarily rejoin. Now the problem isn’t that the Cullens broke the most important rule. Edward came home last night, when he found out I was living there and I was on a date with Rose, he got angry and fought with Carlisle and then his brothers. Before he ran away again. When Rose and I got home he was already gone and Carlisle’s head had been reattached. The entire family was in mourning. After consoling Esme we started cleaning up the mess Edward had made in the house, I went to bed since I was dead on my feet. This morning when I woke up, Alice had had a vision. Edward is going to the Volturi the tell them that the Cullens are in bed with werewolves.”

“Those Volturi leeches know about us?”

“That is the problem, they don’t. We are shape shifters Jake, spirit warriors, not true werewolves. The werewolves they are familiar with are a different kind altogether, they are also called children of the moon. They are essentially human beings that at night and the fullest phase of the moon transform into fearsome feral wolf-like creatures, that barely resemble wolves. They aren’t in control of themselves nor can they control their phasing. Usually, they run alone, or with one companion of the opposite gender. Children of the Moon cannot breed in their animal form; they can spread their species only by infecting other humans through a bite. Infected humans who have children do not pass their abilities to their offspring. They are very dangerous towards vampires, I wouldn’t say they are stronger than us, but their wild, savage nature leads the vampires to greatly fear them. Add this to the fact that they share the same natural food source and you can see why the Volturi have nearly eradicated them. An effort led by Caius, who had barely survived a fight with one millennia ago. It’s an obsession of his if you will and he will gather the expert fighters and will lead them here. Carlisle hopes that we can survive by leaving the pack out of it and being lucky enough that Aro will come as well due to their friendship. But I don’t like the odds and Edward doesn’t really know what we are, his hatred and absence has clouded his judgement.

“Wow, so what is your plan?”

“Jake you know I have to protect my imprint, the pack, my family and the area. I will go out to Volterra in Italy to meet with them, my hope is that at the very least it will prevent them from coming here.”

“When will you be back?”

“Jake I don’t think I’ll be coming back from this. It’s going to be up to you to lead them now, protect them. I ask that you protect Rosalie too, even if I die, she is still my imprint. Work with the Cullens.”

“Bella this is insane. You can’t do this.”

“You can’t stop me Jake, not unless you plan to fight me and become Alpha so that you can order me to stay.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then I need your help, you’re coming with me to the airport and will stay until I board the plane, by then it will be too late for the Cullens to stop me. You being this close blinds Alice’s visions, she won’t know what I’m planning until it’s too late. On your way back, I need you to deliver the letters I’m about to write.”

Jake nodded in agreement, though he looked sad. I started writing letters, one to Charlie with a partial explanation. One to Sarah, explaining why and wishing her a long and happy life with Jake. One to the council to warn them of what might still come if I fail. One to Esme to explain my reasoning and thanking her for having shown me what a true mothers love is. And finally one to Rosalie.

_Dear Rose,_

_I write you this letter to explain my actions. After phased in your house when I had fought with Edward the first time I had been a mess, it took a while for me to pick myself up again. When I did, I saw you differently on my first day back at school. You became the most important person to me in the world, it was like gravity shifted and you became the person holding me on earth. I fought it for a while, believing it to be a trick that was being played on me, I was in pain the whole time, unless when I saw you in school, I hated and cherished those moments, it felt good to be pain free, to see you, to know you were safe but I hated the pull I felt towards you. I refused to talk about it with my pack or the council. It wasn’t until after my fall from that cliff, that I had lost the energy to resist, every moment I spent with you once I had fully regained consciousness I cherished. It made me increasingly confused, that’s why I had insisted on meeting with the council. Finally, I had let them explain what happened to me, we call it ‘imprinting’ it’s something that can happen to a shifter and identifies you as my soulmate. Once I had accepted it, I spent every moment I could with you, willing to be whatever you needed, I started by being your friend, I guess the universe decided that we needed to be more. But given recent developments I have to fulfil the most important part of the imprint, being your protector. By the time this letter is delivered to you, you will of course have already been informed by Alice that I’m headed to Volterra. My hope is that by going there, I will be able to prevent them from coming here, this way you’ll be safe. It saddens me that I cannot stay with you, but I have faith that in time you will find love, somebody that will make you happy. I won’t ask you to forget about me, I know with your memory that will be impossible, just give it a place and keep yourself open to love and happiness. To have kissed you was to have known love. I shall look at pictures of you along the way, but they won’t do you justice, cause you are more fair than all the jewels on earth._

_Love,  
Bella_

_Ps: with what I’m about to do I know I will deeply hurt Esme too, be there for her please, she will be there for you in return if you’ll need it._

Once finished with the Letter’s I booked a series of first class flights to Italy, Arranged a rental car in Italy and booked a cheap flight for Jake so that he could stay with me until I had to board. I hoped that the Cullens wouldn’t check my spending in real time. I picked first class since I figured I might as well go face certain death in style and comfort. Jake had made us a bite to eat and was done when I was finished with the letters. We ate together until my phone rang, it was the concierge from American express informing me of the lounges the passengers I had booked for would have access to and full concierge services all the way. I thanked her and stated I’d pass it on to them.

“Hey Jake, you hungry?”

“You know we can always eat.” He said having just finished his breakfast.

“Well we can wait for my flight in a exclusive lounge in the Sea-Tac airport. Plenty of food all we can eat. So at least there’s that.”

I got my new ID and passport out of the back pack, to avoid problems I’d be flying as Vanessa Rogers, which was the name of my 22 year old identity and put my regular ones in there. Jake and I left the house, while hauling ass to the airport Jake tried multiple times to convince me not to do this.

“Jake, I’m begging you don’t let one of my last memories of you be ordering you to shut up about it. Please can’t we pretend I’m taking a European vacation and you’re seeing me off at the airport. I want to arrive there with at least one more recent happy memory other than having kissed Rose.”

“You kissed her?! What was that like?”

“It was the best thing in the world, it was divine. So you and Sarah?”

“No nothing like that, Sarah is still healing from her break up with Edward, what she needs right now is a understanding brother and friend, which is what I’m being. It’s weird you know, having imprinted mutually upon each other. As far as the legends know that never happened before. Of course the legends also never said anything about female wolves.”

“Yeah the legends don’t explain too much in some cases. I’m glad you’re here for Sarah, glad it’s you that’s her imprint.”

“Thanks, I promise I’ll respect your wishes.”

After a couple of hours we stopped at the exclusive entrance and were greeted by a valet and a concierge who looked a little confused at the loud, bright and tuned Nissan.

“Vanessa Rogers and Jake Black, I believe our tickets entitle us to use this entrance and the valet service.”

“Yes of course, I have your tickets right here, please follow me to the centurion lounge.”

The concierge led us inside and dismissed the porter since neither of us had any luggage. After a short walk we were inside the lounge and being led around by the concierge showing the various services available to us. We chose a cozy corner in the restaurant and ate for hours, the waiter becoming increasingly shocked as we ordered more food and just kept eating it. I was going to be in the air for a long time, so I wanted to eat as much as I could. We chit chatted for a while till the concierge came for me, to transfer me to my gate. We went through a quick security check, and were driven to my gate. The plane was waiting for me, I asked the concierge to wait with the cart driver and then take Jake back outside and get him the car. I took Jake aside and pulled him into a hug.

“It’s gonna be ok Jake. I love you like a brother. Now go and don’t look back.” I said and gave him the letters.

“I’ll deliver them, Cullens first?”

“Yeah, don’t be afraid to put your foot down Jake, she can take it. You should be there in a hour and a half once you leave here.”

The concierge gave me my ticket, I handed it with my passport to the flight attendant waiting for me, she got my checked in and escorted my into the plane and to my first class seat. Shortly after I was seated the plane started to taxi and soon we were airborne towards London. I was brought a glass of champagne, the expensive good stuff. The meals while underway were all delicious and they didn’t mind bringing seconds when possible. I took a nap and soon we landed in Heathrow. Once my phone got a signal again I had tons of missed calls and texts. I chose not to look at them, it would be too painful. I was taken to the priority customs line and made it through in record time after which I was escorted to my next plane, it has been a short layover, soon I was airborne again and headed for Italy. There were also meals on this flight and I took another quick nap. Being woken up by a flight attendant as the plane was preparing to land in Pisa. Once landed I made my way to the rental car area, I had rented a pretty fast car and since it was night time already I was able to make my way to Volterra quickly as I arrived the sun started to rise, I had to wait a little before it was morning and the towns gate opened, a leftover tradition from the renaissance, so I changed into my wolf clothes with a cheap pair of shoes while waiting. From what Carlisle had told me I knew roughly where I needed to be. I parked the car outside a side entrance of the castle in the center of town.

Carlisle had said that entrance was always open for visiting vampires. I grabbed my back pack and got out of the car. The stench made my nose burn, this definitely was the place. I went over to the side entrance and opened the door. Immediately 2 vampires came towards me. I raised my hands up in surrender.

“Gentlemen, I’d kindly request you bring me to see the brothers, I’m sure Caius, Aro and Marcus would like to see me first.” I said while wrinkling my nose, the smell outside was horrible but in here it was like holding your nose over a bottle of bleach.

They each grabbed an arm and walked me through the building, after going through several hallways and up some stairs we entered a lobby, clearly the reception area judging from the desk on the other side, as we got closer I saw a woman sitting behind the screen, she was pretty, but not vampire pretty, she was clearly human.

“Felix, Demitri, do you wish for me to inform them that you brought a guest?”

“Yes, we’ll wait for them in the rotunda.” The vampire to my right said.

They escorted me through a double set of doors down a hallway and through another set of double doors, the place was clad with marble and artwork. On one end of the rotunda there was a raised floor with 3 throne looking chairs on them and doors on the side. The rotunda starter filling with vampires, all dressed in cloaks. The last to arrive were the 3 figures I had seen in the painting in Carlisle’s office. They looked as ancient as they had been described, their skin looked like it was old and papery, their red eyes had a dullness to them. the main one, Aro no doubt was flanked by two young small vampires, one was a petite blonde, the other had brown hair, aside from that they looked very familiar. My ‘escorts’ brought me forward. Caius and Marcus had taken a seat on their thrones, Aro was waiting. When I was brought before him, though with still quite a safe distance between us. He started talking.

“You must be Isabella.” He said in a singing voice.

“That’s right and you must be Aro, Caius to the left of you and that’s Marcus to the right of you.”

“Clearly you heard of us, just like we heard of you. Why did you come here?” he sang

“I know what you’ve been told, but you were misinformed by a very angry resentful person. My hope is that we can work this out or in the worst case it ends here with me dead and you leave the Cullens alone.” I replied.

“The Cullens will die for mixing with werewolves.” Caius stated.

“I’m not the werewolf that you think I am, yes I turn into a large wolf but I turn into an actual wolf and I can phase back and forth as I please.”

“Lies, there is no such thing. Behead her!” Caius yelled.

I turned back to Aro. “You’ve been misinformed, I came here to save you the trouble of having to come to us, I’m willing to give my life all I ask in return is that no harm comes to the Cullens, give them a chance and investigate this with a open mind, you will find that they are not guilty of associating with children of the moon, for I am not one and never have been.”

“his friendship with Carlisle will see to that, Felix, Demitri behead her now.” Caius said.

As the two vampires next to my grabbed my head the double doors were kicked open and the vampires turned me around to see what was going on, a furious Rosalie rushed in followed by Carlisle. Rosalie threw both vampires off me and took up a defensive posture in front of me.

“Aro can we talk about this first?” Carlisle asked.

“I was about to promise the girl that we’d talk before action against your coven would be taken.” Aro sang.

I reached out to Rose to calm her down. My touch made her turn around and she pulled me into a hug.

“I’m glad we made it in time, what were you thinking Bella?”

“Rose, you shouldn’t be here, I came to keep you safe.”

“Bella, why didn’t you tell me that you imprinted on me?”

“I’m sorry darling, but imprinting took my choice away, I wanted you to have a choice, it wouldn’t have been fair for you to have felt compelled.”

I saw Marcus approaching us something that was surprising given he hadn’t been paying attention and had looked bored during the whole thing, he seemed to have body guards as well, next to Aro the small blonde was eying me furiously. Marcus went to Aro and held out his hand which Aro took into his. He turned to look at Rose and me.

“How fascinating.” He sang, no longer paying attention to Carlisle.

“You two are mated, Marcus didn’t know what to make of it at first given it was so strong. And the fact that you’re not a vampire” he continued.

“Mated?” I whispered into Rose’s ear.

“later.” She whispered back

“Aro if I may, Bella is part vampire. Her DNA has 26 chromosomes, 23 are human, 2 are vampiric like we have added to our human ones and 1 is what I assume to be the chromosome that allows her to phase.” Carlisle started explaining

Suddenly I saw the petite blonde shifting her eyes to Rose, Rose immediately let go of me and fell to the ground screaming in agony. I lunged towards the petite blonde and phased on the fly.

“Bella stop!” Rose screamed. I went back to Rose and took in a defensive posture next to her, it had all happened so fast that the last shreds of my wolf clothes were only now hitting the floor. I growled viciously at the petite blonde.

“Jane, do not attack either one of them again without permission.” Aro said firmly in a non singing way with shock on his face

He turned back to Carlisle, somewhat unsure. “I take it she wont attack unless provoked again?”

Carlisle nodded and proceeded to tell my story. Caius was fuming, it was clear he was firmly in the kill Bella camp. “This is artifice! Carlisle has been running sick experiments and ran them on this girl! They all need to be destroyed immediately!” he screamed and while doing it Rosalie started petting my fur to keep me calm.

“I assure you the girl was born with the chromosome that allows her to phase into a wolf, as for the vampire chromosomes she was brutalized by a vampire when she was 12, the vampire was enjoying watching her wither in pain as the venom spread through her system, I believe it had been his intent to kill her before she changed but when her phasing chromosome activated it neutralized the venom, it did make her a partial vampire though. I was involved with neither. Then there’s the fact that it’s morning outside and she just phased on the fly, if you want she can phase back to her ‘human’ form to prove that she’s in control of it.

“it would be interesting to see and she’d be able to speak for herself again.” Aro sang.

Rosalie grabbed my back pack, the straps destroyed and made me come with her to the far side of the rotunda, I walked backwards keeping my eyes on the petite blonde called Jane.

“Bella, you have to phase now. It will be ok.” Rose said as she petted my head.

I turned around and was quickly back on my human feet and got dressed in the clothes Rose had gotten out of the back pack for me. Once dressed again I rushed to Jane using my superspeed.

“You hurt my imprint again and your head is coming off.” I said firmly before walking back to Rose who had been caught off guard. We walked back to the spot where we had originally been standing.

“Isabella, would you mind giving me your hand? I’m a gifted vampire and I can see peoples memories if I touch them.” Aro asked with his singing voice.

I held out my hand “No problem, but I’m not sure if it will work, Edward to his frustration couldn’t read my mind.”

Aro confidently grabbed the hand I was holding out, after a few seconds he let go of it in shock.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing.” He said once recovered.

Carlisle stepped in and held out his hand. “Aro I think you need to see the girl the way I have seen her, you will be able to see the truth then as I have seen it.”

Aro held Carlisle’s hand for a moment. When he let go he looked to Caius and Marcus intending to confer with them about our fate. You could cut the tension in the rotunda with a knife. Finally Caius spoke up.

“Felix bring the informant here.” He said to Felix who nodded and blurred away. Not much later Felix returned with Edward, none of us were surprised. Felix brought him to Caius. Carlisle had a sad and disappointing look in his face, it was kinda heart breaking to see, Rosalie’s hand and mine found the way to each other which cause Marcus to smile at us.

“You came here accusing you family of being involved with werewolves, you described that girl in detail, we all just watched her turn into a large wolf and back to human, but it’s day time. You said she turned her sister into one of her. Explain.” Caius stated to Edward.

“I told you they were involved with wolves and that they are dangerous and temperamental, you filled in the blanks yourself Caius.” Edward said in a neutral tone.

And your sister? Aro directed a question at me.

“I merely activated the magic that was already present in her blood, to protect her from him. Magic she was born with.” I explained

“Brothers it is time to make our decision.” Aro said. Both Caius and Marcus held out a hand to Aro who quickly touched them.

“We are ready to make a judgment whether or not the law has been broken, but first I need to ask you one last question Bella and I will be watching you carefully when you answer. Do you intend to keep our and your existence secret?” Aro asked.

“Of course, I’d be in danger otherwise and even worse Rose would be in danger.”

Aro let out a hight pitched laugh. “You were right Marcus, it’s so unusual. Carlisle at some point you will have to update us on her, she is remarkable and fascinating.” Aro sang.

“As for you, you have come to give a malicious testimony against your family. There’s only one punishment for such offense. Felix take his head off.” Caius said while lighting a gas torch, which he’d clearly use on Edwards corpse.

“Wait!” I yelled causing everyone to look at me, nearly all with confused or shocked looks on their faces, Aro on the other hand was curious.

“You wish to say something to him before he’s finished?” Aro asked

“No, I have saved the Volturi time and resources by coming here, Edward was blinded by his hatred for me. I’m the damaged party here, so I’d kindly request I get to determine his fate.”

Aro looked at Caius and then at Marcus who nodded. “Perhaps it is more appropriate this one time, name the punishment and we shall see to it.” Aro sang.

“Edward I forgive you for all you have done to my family and to me, you will go to the Siberian wilderness and survive there keeping to your diet until you have stopped hating and forgiven yourself. Time to reflect on your actions. When you have forgiven yourself, come home.”

Carlisle had a look of relief on his face, everybody else was shocked. Aro was the first to recover.

“Unusual but if it is what you wish. Felix, Demitri, see to it that Edward get’s to the Siberian wilderness. Edward every vampire will be aware of your punishment, if you leave Siberia without permission you will be destroyed.” Aro sang.

“I assume we are free to go?”

“Of course, Of course. I do hope to see you again one day Isabellaaa.” Aro sang.

Carlisle said his goodbye’s to the Volturi and the three of us walked away from the Rotunda. And left the castle. Once outside, I saw that Rose and Carlisle had also come by car.

“Bella thank you for what you did and for not letting Edward be executed. Rose why don’t you and Bella go return her rental, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about. I’ll follow you so that we can return to the airport together.”

We both nodded and got in my rental, fortunately it had come with tinted windows to prevent Rose from catching a lot of attention. Once we were underway Rose decided to start the conversation.

“What does it mean specifically to be imprinted on me? Why me?”

“It means it will always be you, no matter what. Your needs will always come before mine, my life goals are to make sure you’re happy and safe. It’s hard not to be near you, but if space if what you want I’ll give it to you.”

“No I don’t want you to give me space.”

“What was it that you wanted Carlisle to tell me? It seems fair that you tell me since I told you my big secret. And what did that guy Marcus mean with we’re mates?”

“I wanted Carlisle to have the mates conversation with you before we went further because I also tried to stay away from you, I’ve felt a pull towards you since we first met. Carlisle & Esme, Alice & Jasper are mated couples so I had reference material and people who understood what was happening to me. But given you imprinted on me, I’m no longer sure that whole conversation is still relevant.”

“Why is it no longer relevant?”

“Bella, when vampires mate, they mate for life and like you wanted for me apparently, I also wanted you to have a choice. Bella, we live for a long time, unless destroyed we don’t die. So essentially, it’s for all eternity. That’s something you need to think about.”

“Rose, I cant stay away from you. You’re everything to me, I get what you’re saying but you need to understand what the imprint means, I’m bound to you no matter what, so if neither of us have a choice why are we still fighting it?”

Rose smiled and slid her hand in mine.

“Darling, how angry are you with me for what I did today?”

“Very, I’ll give you a piece of my mind later, for now I’m just glad you’re still alive and that we made it out of there.”

I lifted our hands and kissed hers. It didn’t take us too long to get back to the airport, I returned the car and we got into Carlisle’s car.

“So how did you guys get here so quickly? I thought I had figured out how to take Alice’s visions out of play.”

“We boarded a private jet in Port Angeles, our route was more direct and faster.” Carlisle explained

“I’m sorry.”

“Your goal was noble Bella, I just wish you wouldn’t always willingly thrust yourself into unknown dangers like that.” Rose said.

“I’m sorry darling, I just wanted you to be safe.”

“We did arrive in Florence instead of Pisa, I’ve made lunch reservations for you and Rose in the hotel we’ll stay in tonight before we fly back. It will save you a good hour of Esme giving you a scolding. Rose and I were able to convince them to stay at the airport but you really had Esme worried.”

“I have it coming to me.”

“It’s not what you did Bella, if anything the family loves you even more now. It’s the way you do things. Your idea wasn’t bad but you should have told us, we would have come with you and nobody would have been that worried. Alice saw you die before we made the decision to come and help you.”

“I would have been fine with it as long as they would’ve left you guys and the pack alone.” I said and got slapped hard in the arm. “Ouch! What was that for?”

“I would not have been fine Bella.” Rose said while giving me an angry look.

“I’m sorry darling, honestly I had no idea.”

“I know, just don’t pull a stunt like this again.” Rose said and leaned over to give me a peck on the cheek.

I strongly hoped Carlisle wouldn’t notice how much I was blushing. Soon we arrived at the hotel. The Cullens had rented an executive floor that came with a private entrance. Carlisle took us to the hotel’s restaurant before heading to the rooms. I sat down with Rose at our table, there was no special menu that would satisfy Rose this time but she ate regardless. When I wasn’t eating I smiled at her like an idiot and she smiled back every time. When finished eating we went to the entrance from where we’d go up to the room, Rose quickly retrieved my destroyed backpack from the car and we headed up in the private elevator.

“Facing Esme is somehow scarier than walking into the Volturi’s place.”

“I’ll be with you but you really had her worried. You stole her heart two nights ago when you two were upstairs you know, yesterday morning you destroyed it.”

“I know, I meant it though. When I stole her heart I mean. When I think of the word mom I just immediately think of Esme.”

Esme was waiting for us when we got upstairs. I flew her in the arms and hugged her.

“I’m so sorry mom, I didn’t mean to hurt you or make you worried, I just wanted you all to be safe.”

“Bella, don’t you ever do anything like this ever again, you hear me?!”

Esme was clearly furious. I stood there with her for an hour apologizing while she scolded me for the hurt and worry I caused her. Esme knew that I did everything for the right reasons but she was right that it was wrong to cause them that much worry and grief. When Esme was no longer angry we hugged again. Then she took me into the main room of the floor. Where the rest of the family was waiting to give me a piece of their mind, though it had been much shorter than the one I had gotten from Esme. Alice had decided I deserved punishment so I had to go shopping with her since it started getting overcast in the afternoon. So after a quick shower I had to go out with her and rose. Carlisle and Esme went to look at a church and Jasper and Emmett stayed behind to watch TV. It was brutal, for hours I was forced to fit clothes after clothes after clothes. She had stolen the clothes I was wearing at one point and had forced me to wear one of the dresses we had bought, later she stole my shoes and I was forced to wear the high heels she had made me buy. Rose was leaving me hanging.

“You’re in on this aren’t you?”

“I’m not plotting against you but you look hot in that dress.”

I started blushing.

“Not as hot as you look in yours darling.”

Finally the torture was over when my stomach rumbled loudly enough that the stores employees noticed, Rose had immediately declared that it was the last store we’d be in. Alice wasn’t thrilled to stop shopping but she didn’t put up a fight. When we got back to the hotel I was already dead on my feet. But as my hunger dictated I ate first. Esme had ordered a large amount of room service for me and for the sake of not attracting suspicion. She was starting to forgive me if she hadn’t already. After dinner Esme took me to a room and told me to get some sleep. I peeked my head out the door again.

“Rose?” I asked half asleep already.

Rosalie was soon in front of me.

“What’s wrong Bella, do you need anything?

“Will you stay with me? Tonight and well, forever basically?”

“I will.”

Rose led me to the bed, we unzipped each other’s dresses and got undressed. I was about to start to drool from looking at her lingerie clad body, I couldn’t complain about myself exactly, I was fit. Rose had slightly larger breasts than me, and a better figure overall, her paleness gave her a indescribable beauty. She took my hand and got us in bed under the covers. It took us a couple of minutes to figure out how we’d do this, but we settled for just spooning for now, I got to play big spoon.

“So you think I’m more fairer than all the jewels on earth, huh?”

“It was an understatement.” I said and kissed the back of her head.

“It was the best compliment I ever got.”

“Clearly you need to hang with a better crowd.” I chuckled

“I like the crowd I hang with, especially this girl I fell in love with, she’s also as fair as all the jewels on earth but refuses to see it.”

“You’re making me blush and compliments will get you nowhere, I’m too tired.”

“Sleep well Bella.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep, Rose physically in my arms and smelling her scent was comforting and relaxing. I woke up when the sun rose early in the morning, I was flat on my back and Rose was resting her head on me, a hand on my stomach.

“You stayed.” I said with a smile.

“Of course, I’ll always stay if you want me to.”

“Just as long as you don’t forget about your own needs.”

I turned a little and gave her a kiss on the lips, we were still in the chaste kisses stage but that was fine, when rose opened her lips a little, the scent of her breath was mesmerizing. We were eventually interrupted by a knock on the door. We broke of a kiss and sighed together.

“Come in.”

Esme came into the room

“Sorry girls but it’s time to get ready, we have to leave in about an hour. Bella, your breakfast will be brought up soon, you should still have time for a shower.”

“Thanks mom.”

Rose and I got out of bed, I went to the bathroom to use the toilet and then showered. After which Rosalie had laid out a new dress for me, apologizing that Alice had gotten rid of my clothes. I got dressed and I had to admit I did look good in red. I left the heels off for now, I’d put them on when we left. I went to eat breakfast while Rose showered and got dressed. Breakfast was really good, the Italians coffee alone was to die for, take that Seattle I thought. Soon we left for the airport that wasn’t too far away. The hangar crew took care of our rental cars and we boarded the private jet. It was a long flight but Esme had made sure I didn’t go hungry or thirsty. If possible even the Cullens would have looked tired by the time we touched down in Port Angeles. Rose and I got into her red Bmw M3 and the rest of the family got into Carlisle’s Mercedes. With the way the Cullens drove it didn’t take us long to get home. When we got to the house there was a man waiting there. Both cars were parked in front of the garage and we all got out, most of us weary but trying to hide it.

“Carlisle and Esme Cullen?” the man asked.

“Yes that’s me and my husband.” Esme answered since she was the closest to him.

“you’re being served” the man said as he handed her a large brown envelope.

Esme accepted the envelope and the man left in his car. We went inside, with a bunch of suitcases that were full of all the clothes Alice had bought in Italy for the whole family. Esme opened the envelope given everybody was curious.

Esme looked at me. “Veronica is filing for custody.”


	15. A new member of the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, after this chapter I'm planning to introduce some more action, most of this chapter is to wrap up a story arc that had largely been left open.

**Chapter 15**

**There’s a moment when you have to choose  
whether to be silent or to stand up.**

“No.” I said defeated. I would have fallen to the ground if Rose wasn’t holding me.

Esme hurried over to me and took me into her embrace.

“It’s going to work out sweetheart. We won’t let her get her hands on you ever again.” Esme said.

“I know, I just wish it wasn’t necessary.”

“I’ll make you something to eat sweetheart. It will be ok.” Esme said as she let me go.

“Rose come with me.”

Rose followed me outside and I got my phone out and took a picture of her. I put it on the screen and showed it to her.

“When is the last time you hunted? I can see it in your eyes.” I confronted her.

“it’s been a while, will you be ok without me for a bit?”

“Oh I’m coming with you.”

“Bella you can’t.”

“Rose, I know it’s how you feed, you don’t have to be ashamed of it, I won’t be afraid of you when I see it.”

“No, when we feed like that, we can enter a frenzy especially when we haven’t fed in a while. I could end up attacking you.”

“Rose, you forget how fast I am, you wont hurt me. Let’s go.”

Rose was frustrated but realized that I wasn’t going to give in. She led the way and after a few minutes at high speed we got to a hunting ground in the national park. Rose stopped and let her senses take over and after a few seconds she ran off in a different direction. I followed her, not getting too close, she had found a deer. Rose quickly snapped the deer’s neck, presumably to be more humane and bit down in it’s neck with her fangs. As rose was feeding I heard a sound coming closer, something was sneaking up to Rose. I sped closer and saw a mountain lion that was going to jump rose in competition for the deer, blinded by the smell of the blood probably. The smell of the blood changed something in myself, fangs shot out in my mouth and I lunged at the mountain lion, biting down it’s neck and sucking in the sweet blood. It wasn’t until I had drained the mountain lion that I realized what just happened. I looked at Rose in shock.

“Bella, are you ok?”

“What happened?”

“Bella you just hunted like a vegetarian vampire, can I come closer?”

“Rose it was going to attack you.” I said and signaled it was ok for her to come.

“Yes, you know it wouldn’t have been able to hurt me right?”

“I wasn’t thinking Rose, I just acted. Why do my teeth feel weird?”

“Because you apparently have vampire fangs and they are extended.” Rose said as she got in front of me.

I figured it would be like phasing so I focused on retracting my fangs. It worked and my teeth were back to normal.

“Well that’s something new and different I guess.”

“Bella, your eyes. They are still green but are speckled with gold. I think we should head back carefully and see Carlisle. I’ll lead the way to make sure we stay clear of people. Try to only breathe through your mouth”

I followed Rose on the route she chose and soon we were back home. We walked in at a normal pace and when Esme saw me she nearly had a heart attack, the fight with the mountain lion had ruined my dress, Alice would kill me. She went to get Carlisle at vampire speed so the two of them were there in a split second, Carlisle looked worried.

“What happened?” Carlisle asked.

“Well I went hunting with Rose and when she had taken down a deer, there was a mountain lion sneaking up to her. I guess it wanted a piece of the deer. I lunged at the mountain lion and after a short struggle I bit it in the neck and ended up draining it of its blood I guess.”

The entire family had joined us in the living room, Alice looked in horror at my dress and gave me a disapproving look. Once she was recovered, she was the first to talk.

“I told you all this would happen, why are you all surprised. Bella look what you did to your dress!”

“Alice what do you mean you saw this would happen?!” I asked sharply.

“I’ve had visions of you feeding like us.”

“Bella, we should do some tests with you before you head back into the populated world.” Carlisle said.

“I’m kinda hungry though, mind if I have dinner first?”

“You’re still hungry?” Esme asked.

“Yeah, It’s like I only had a large bottle of soda.”

Esme took me to the kitchen, she had finished a stir fry while we had been gone hunting. I sat down and broke the bowl when I stuck my chopsticks in too hard.

“Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Bella, do you feel stronger?” Carlisle asked.

“I guess?”

Carlisle led me outside and had Emmett tag along too, Rose followed closely.

He stopped near a boulder that had a flat top.

“Emmett is the strongest out of us, let’s test your strength in arm wrestling him.”

“Carlisle he could hurt her!”

“It’s going to be ok darling, don’t worry.” I comforted Rose.

“Being cocky wont prevent you from getting hurt Bella.” Rose said as Emmett and I got into position.

“Don’t worry Rose, I’ll start off lightly, I don’t want to hurt her either.” Emmett said.

We held each other’s hand and honestly at first nothing happened, emmet seemed determined to just hold his arm in the starting position. I started increasing the strength I was using and soon Emmett was struggling to hold his arm in position. He started fighting back to no avail. _All or nothing_ I thought and went all in. Emmets arm turned all the way to my left and smashed into the boulder. I had the three of them looking at me in shock.

“What’s the matter guys?”

“Uhm Bella, nobody has ever defeated Emmett.” Rosalie said.

“I don’t know if your strength will fade and at what rate, provided you don’t feed again. But you’re going to have to be more careful from now on. You’ll find that many objects are very fragile, think light touching and you should be ok.” Carlisle said.

“I’m not planning to go in the woods to drink blood any time soon Carlisle.”

“Yes, speaking of, do you feel a slight burning in your throat?”

“No.”

“Interesting, we should test you though. Emmett you go back to the house, Rose you go get a bag of blood.” Emmett and Rose followed Carlisle’s instructions. Soon rose was back and handed Carlisle a blood bag.

“Bella, does this look appealing to you?” Carlisle asked.

“Can’t say it looks particularly appealing, that said I’ve never been a fan of tomato juice.”

Carlisle tore the top of the bag open and dumped it on the boulder. Both him and Rose stepped back.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“You really don’t want the blood? It’s setting your throat on fire?” Carlisle asked confused.

“No, that’s disgusting.” I said and walked away.

“Rose I’ll clean this up, go back with Bella.” I heard Carlisle say.

Soon Rose was next to me and naturally our hands interlocked while we walked back to the house. When we got back inside Emmett looked upset, he explained he wasn’t used to losing. I was going to apologize to him when Esme dragged me back into the kitchen, she had gone into town and got a pizza.

“I didn’t break the bowl on purpose mom.”

“I know sweetheart, but I was out of ingredients. I need to go do groceries and wanted to make sure you still had something to eat. How did it go?”

“Well, we determined that I have to be more careful with my strength and that blood is disgusting. Thanks for the pizza.”

I felt full after eating the large pizza. Rose still looked worried. I pulled her in close and assured her everything would be ok. Eventually we went both upstairs to get cleaned up in our rooms. I was a bit of a mess, the dress was definitely ruined. I showered and brushed my teeth. Got dressed in my comfy sweats and a t-shirt. I went over to Rose’s room and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

I entered and rose was still wrapped up in a towel.

“Wanna watch a movie in the movie room?” I asked her.

“Sure, just let me get dressed.”

“There’s one condition though, darling.” I said as I stepped in front of her.

“Oh?”

I kissed her on her forehead.

“Yeah, we got to cuddle the entire time.” I said and smiled at her before heading to the movie room.

I was soon joined by Rose and we picked a movie together, we cuddled on the couch together. 45 minutes in Rose started purring and I had to laugh.

“You too huh?”

“Sorry, but you’re just so warm, It’s so comforting.”

“You can enjoy it as much as you want.” I said and gave her a kiss on her head.

It didn’t take too long until it turned into a make out session. When I had wanted to introduce a little tongue my phone alarm went off. I sighed.

“Sorry darling I gotta run patrol.”

“Will you be gone long?”

“Just a few hours. Do you want to sleep with me when I get back? I loved it the last time, best waking up I ever did. Best sleep I ever got too.”

“I’ll wait up for you.” Rose laughed.

I gave her one last kiss and went into my room to change into my wolf clothes and grabbed my slippers to leave in the garage. I went downstairs and told Esme I was headed out. I phased in the woods and was soon joined on time by Jake.

“Sorry I had you worried buddy.”

“I’m just glad you’re ok. Wow you drank a mountain lion’s blood?”

“Yeah pretty weird.”

I thought of the memories of defeating Emmett and not getting thirsty from the opened bag of blood so that Jake would worry about it too much. We chatted while we ran the long loop patrol. When we were nearly done and were about to meet up again Jake caught a vampire’s scent. I made him stop for me, I got to him quickly and we gave chase. It was a blonde guy with bright red eyes.

“Jake I want to interrogate him. Go for the legs.” Jake lunged at his legs and I jumped at one of his arms. It hadn’t taken long for us to take the vampire down and partially dismember him. I phased to human form.

I kicked away the limbs that were taken off and threw the vampire against a tree, causing it to shatter. I pulled of his remaining leg with ease and pushed his torn body against a tree the vampire screaming in pain.

“If you answer my questions I’ll end it quickly for you, that’s all you’re gonna get out of this, if you don’t answer my questions or I suspect you’re lying we’ll start burning your limbs and that’s gonna hurt way worse than the hurt you’re feeling right now. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” The vampire said in agony.

“Who created you?”

“He never said his name, he reported to a redhead.”

“did the redhead send you here?”

“yes.”

“What was your mission?”

“I had to try to make it into town, into a house but I could bear to enter the smell was too bad. She wanted me to get clothing there from a human girl.”

I tore his head off and once all the pieces were collected I set them on fire. I phased back to my wolf shape.

“You got all of that?”

“Yeah. What does it mean?”

“The redhead is after Sarah and doesn’t know that she’s a shifter. You need to inform the pack, I’ll inform the Cullens.”

We went our separate ways and soon I was home. I phased and got dressed in the woods and went inside through the garage to pick up my slippers. I informed the family of what happened. More than ever, we were all determined that we had to get Victoria.

“Ain’t it funny though? All my enemies seem to have a name that starts with a V.” I said when the meeting had ended to break the tension.

“Speaking off do you think you will be able to meet with the lawyers tomorrow sweetheart?” Esme asked.

“Of course.”

“Esme, I think she’ll be fine, the blood bag would’ve made her lose control if she needs blood like we do. It doesn’t appeal to her, but it does seem to make her stronger.” Rose supported me.

“Thanks darling.” I said with a cocky grin on my face.

After hanging out with the family for a bit Rose and I retreated back to my room. I took a quick shower and got back into my sweats and t shirt outfit. Rose was waiting for me sitting on the bed with her knees pulled up.

“I need to tell you my story. But I have to warn you it doesn’t end well.” She said.

I sat down in front of her and nodded.

“I was born in Rochester, New York in 1915 and grew up in a middle class family, my parents had always been proud social climbers and as I grew up my beauty became of great importance to them, I constantly got praise because of it and in turn it made me self centered and vain. As I got older, leaving behind my childhood and early teenage year I started getting even more attention because of it. I regularly got new beautiful dresses, my friends envied me and men would always admire me. I became shallow and materialistic because of it. I was happy being Rosalie Hale and that I was so beautiful. I did however had the occasional jealous streak, I resented Carlisle, Esme and Edward who live in Rochester at the time, because they were more beautiful than me. In 1933 things were pretty bad in the USA but at the bank my father worked at things weren’t going to bad so I continued having a sheltered life. One day my mother made me dress in one of my best dresses just so I could bring my father his lunch he had forgotten at home. I later found out they had planned this due to the bank owners son, Royce King II having started working there, the Kings were essentially the royal family of Rochester, they owned all the important businesses. It made Royce the most eligible bachelor in all of Rochester and probably beyond. My parents plan had worked, Royce had noticed me. That night the first flowers arrived, he’d have flowers delivered every night for the duration of the time he courted me and while we were engaged, he’d take me to the nicest restaurants, walk with me in the parks etc. all chaperoned of course, as was appropriate at the time. I realize now that I wasn’t in love, I was in love with the idea of being loved and I liked feeling wanted. A week before our wedding I visited my best friend Vera, she was the one I had practiced kissing with if you remember that. She had married a year earlier to a regular working guy who was nothing special and had given birth to a baby boy, I envied her, I wanted a child too and little henry with his curly hair and dimples was the cutest baby I had ever seen. I had stayed out late, but Vera’s house wasn’t too far so I decided to take the walk unescorted instead of calling home for my father to get me. As I was walking home there was a group of men across the street singing and bantering, they were clearly under the influence of alcohol. I started walking a little faster, but then one of the men called after me, it was Royce the men were his friends, he ran across the street and pulled me with him, wanting to show me off to his friends. He rudely started talking about me and started pulling on my dress. I had never seen Royce drunk but I had been used to standing up for myself, I slapped him and said I’d see him later when he sobered up. When I started walking away, I was pulled back, beaten, he tore my dress off and raped me while his friends watched, when he was done they took their turns beating me and raping me. They left me for dead laughing that Royce would need to find a new fiancée. I was near death when Carlisle found me, I wasn’t aware of what was happening when he carried me back to the house they lived in at the time. I do remember Edward arguing with Carlisle that he had brought me there, then Carlisle bit me and started the transformation, you’re familiar with the pain involved. After my transformation I resented what I had become, but I used my new strength and speed to track down the men that had raped me, one by one I killed them, but I didn’t feed on them, the last thing I wanted was them inside me again. I saved Royce for last, I wore a wedding dress I had stolen, you could say I was a little theatrical back then. I killed his guards quickly, tore open the vault door he was hiding behind and slowly killed him, making sure he suffered. A few years later I found Emmett while hunting, he had been brutally attacked by a bear, he reminded me of little Henry, I couldn’t let him die, I carried him back to Carlisle so he could save Emmett. I had hope that I could have somewhat of a happy ending with him but we ultimately were never anything more than brother and sister. It has taken me a long time to not be depressed about what I am, but this is all I’ll ever be, I’ll never have children, I’ll never grow old, I’ll never be an old lady sitting on a porch watching her grandchildren play.”

Rose was dry sobbing as she told me her story, I was on the verge of tears as well. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her on the head.

“I hope you understand that I’m really sorry that that happened to you but I’m also glad that Carlisle found you that night. If he hadn’t then I would have never found you.”

“You’re not angry that I killed humans?” she asked in between sobs.

“They weren’t human, Rose the only reason I haven’t tracked down the men that raped me is because I cant bear being away from you.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“Rose, I love you and I hope that in time you’ll understand that you will have your happy ending, we found each other didn’t we?”

“It’s a partial happy ending.”

“Uhm Rose, I can have children. Carlisle confirmed it a while ago that I was still fertile. The kids would have my vampiric and shifter genes, so unless you are against having a few vampire puppies walking around we can have kids. You’d make a great mom, better than I would.”

“You don’t need to get pregnant to make me happy Bella.”

“Darling, I have a little bit of a desire to be a mother too one day, I’m not talking about tomorrow of course, just one day.”

“Bella, I love you.”

“I love you too darling.” I said and pulled her head up to give her a kiss.

“Thank you for having shared your story with me, I now know what to do tomorrow.” I said after breaking off the kiss.

“What are you going to do?” Rose asked wearily.

“I’m gonna go to the police before we meet with the lawyers and tell my story. Not everything of course but all the stuff that is relevant in human courts.”

“Do you need me to come with you and Esme?”

“I probably could use the extra emotional support, but as long as it’s clear, it’s to help me through it, so that I’m able to tell the truth unvarnished. When I threaten to shut down you must help me continue.”

“If it’s what you want I’ll be there to help you.”

I held rose for a little longer until I started yawning. She insisted we got under the covers after that and I quickly fell asleep. I awoke to find Rose purring and curled into my side.

“Good morning Bella” she purred

“Morning darling, I take it you feel better?”

“I took a quick nap if you will.”

“Did you enjoy waking up if you will as much as I did?”

“Yeah, it’s nice not being alone.”

We remained like that for a bit, cuddling and sharing the occasional kiss until my stomach rumbled.

“Come on, let’s get you breakfast.” Rose said as she pulled me out of bed.

Once downstairs we both sat down at the counter, Esme had started as soon as we came down. She was making multiple French omelettes, each differently. Only Esme could successfully make that many at once. She served them with toast and a side of bacon. It was heavenly. Esme could open a restaurant and have three Michelin stars within 5 years if she wanted.

“Mom when are we due to leave to meet with the lawyers?”

“Just after lunch sweetheart.”

“We need to leave earlier, I need to go to the police station to get everything on record. Rose is gonna come too if that’s ok with you.”

“Are you sure sweetheart? You don’t have to do this, our lawyers are very good.”

“I don’t want to do this, but I need to. Please help me through it.”

“I will.”

After breakfast there was still enough time to take a long bath, I also checked my messages and replied to the pack updates. Jake had let me know the council was planning to take action regarding the custody hearing if needed given I was a tribe member. I didn’t know what to expect with the lawyers and aside from the clothes Alice had forced on me I didn’t have any fancy clothes so I ended up wearing a light blue lace dress with a pair of heels and a purse for my stuff. When I came out of my room Rose and I started laughing.

“We match.” I said since we both were wearing a light blue dress with black heels.

It got even funnier when Esme came down the stairs in a light blue dress. Rose and I nearly fell off the couch laughing.

“Come on you two, it’s time to leave.” Esme said in her motherly tone.

We got in Esme’s Mercedes and left for the police station. Charlie was surprised to see the three of us, he also thought it was funny we all wore dresses in the same color let alone the fact that I wore a dress. Esme pulled him aside and informed him of the purpose for the visit. Charlie got into his chief of police mode and took us into his office. It was difficult and I needed plenty of breaks, Rose and Esme continuously supported me through it, Rose rubbing circles on my back and Esme embracing me when needed. Charlie had reached his breaking point by the time I was done naming the men who did it, what they did, how often and when. It had taken Esme a while to get him to settle down. Charlie would take it from here and contact the right authorities back in Texas, he was deeply sorry he had been unable to protect me.

“It’s ok dad, you didn’t know and I didn’t tell you when I should have.”

“Doesn’t make it right Bells, a parents number 1 job is to protect their children. I failed you.”

“No you silly old man, the only one that failed me is Veronica.” The silly old man remark had gotten me a disapproving look from Esme.

“Charlie you cannot blame yourself, you didn’t do what those men did. We all know you would have done whatever it took to stop them if you had known. If you want I can call Carlisle if you need to talk to somebody.” Esme said.

“I’ll be fine.” Charlie answered.

“Dad we have to go meet with the lawyers, I’m sure they’ll contact you later. But you have to promise me that you wont let this eat away at you. I don’t blame you. You’re not at fault.”

“I promise Bells.”

“Talk to somebody if you have to dad.” I said as we got up.

We left the police station and got back on the road. I had gotten on the backseat with Rose who kept comforting me as I was still stressed out from it all. Esme pulled off the highway to stop at a small town restaurant, according to Carlisle food would help me get settled. I had to admit I felt better after lunch. We got back on the highway and at some point I gave Rosalie a kiss. Esme told us to not make out on her back seat causing Rose and I to laugh again. Soon after we got to the lawyers office. The three of us walked in there and were led to the conference room. 2 lawyers came in and started telling me what to expect, they also asked me if I were willing to testify as to where I wanted to live and why. They also suggested an alternative strategy that would strengthen the case in our favour, filing for formal adoption. Esme shot it down.

“Why not? Charlie wont have a problem with it, he knows he will remain my dad. And I already call you mom anyway.”

“Sweetheart, adoption is a big thing. It’s not something you decide overnight.”

“Mom I don’t want to go back to Texas. I want to stay here with you guys.” I said and it caused the lawyers too stare at me.

“How integrated into the family are you exactly Bella?”

“Well I uhm, It’s just that Esme here, you see.”

“Bella had started seeing me as her mother quite some time ago, I’ll admit I don’t mind it, It makes her happy and I just want to her to be happy.” Esme said trying to rescue me from the corner I just painted myself in.

“Do you think of her like a daughter, what of your other adopted children, do they see her as a sister?”

“I do, I can’t really help myself when it comes to that, Bella was not well when she came to live with us and I became very fond of her.” Esme said

“We see her as our sister.” Rose continued for Esme, once she turned to me she gave a quick wink that humans would be unable to see.

“We cannot advise the alternative enough. The judge that’s presiding over the case is a stickler for having the children be in a safe, family type environment, if it can be proven to the judge that Bella see’s you and your husband as parental figures and the other children as brothers and sisters and the intent to adopt is there. She will go with the adoption any day of the week and twice on Sunday. We could even prevent Bella from having to testify about the unpleasant experiences she has had of which we were informed today.” One of the lawyers said.

“Can we call Charlie?” I asked Esme

Esme agreed and during the call she couldn’t stop apologizing to Charlie, she felt like she was stealing his daughter. Charlie was all for it, he wanted me to be happy and during my visits to him and his visits to me at the Cullens it had become clear to him that I had become part of the family. He once again stated it all was fine with him provided, I’d visit. He also reminded Esme that I’d be turning 18 anyway and that he didn’t see me moving back in with him. Esme consulted with Carlisle and he was for it. Of course something we all knew that we couldn’t say in public was that Rose and I were inseparable and each others soulmates. With Charlies support, Carlisle’s support and a sudden text from Alice saying she was so excited to formally having a new sister, Esme caved in. the lawyers got started on the paperwork so that it could be added to the case before Friday when we’d have to appear in court for the first time. I hugged Esme when we got outside. I was finally gonna have a real mom, officially. It would have happened officially anyway in the future but I like the idea of Esme becoming my official mother while I was still Bella Swan. The remainder of the week flew by, Charlie had stopped by that evening with Sarah and Jake to make sure Esme didn’t feel bad anymore about the Cullens adopting me. Sarah and Jake understood that this was the best thing for me in the long run. I wondered if Charlie had been told about me imprinting on Rosalie. I ran a lot of patrols with the pack, intent on making up for the ones that I had missed. Spending the rest of the time with Rose, we always slept together now. Rose had gotten used to being in the deep meditative state vampires can get to that approximates sleep. Finally it was Friday, we were due in court just after lunch, it had never been said out loud but we had all decided to go together as a family, to present a united front. We arrived at 12:45 in our various vehicles, I had driven Rose and myself in my car. All of us girls were wearing dresses, it seemed the Alicegator had even gotten a hold of Sarah. All the guys were in a suit, Charlie was wearing a new suit, something that was obvious given it fit him. I suspected Alice to be behind it too. We all parked outside the courthouse and went inside. The big support group kept me shielded from Veronica. The hardest part wasn’t what was about to come but not being able to hold Rose right now.

We entered the court room on time, the judge started going through all the paperwork, when he mentioned the adoption papers Veronica was fuming. Carlisle had to take the stand, something the attorney Veronica had hired objected to saying Carlisle was too close to this, the judge overruled his objection. Carlisle gave his opinion that a psychiatric facility would be detrimental for me, along with some other stuff and shared the diagnosis he had made, it wasn’t too bad. Veronica took the stand and started digging a hole for herself when she said I had already tricked the Cullens into buying me a sportscar, our lawyers objected and entered into evidence proof I had bought the car myself with money I had legally earned myself when I still lived with Charlie. Charlie said his piece on how he understood my wish and explained how he had seen how I had changed for the better because of the Cullens. Veronica had talked a long slander piece on me. Ultimately it came down to me, since I was nearly an adult the judge insisted, I took the stand.

“Would you like to tell us who you’d like to live with Bella?” the judge asked.

“I would prefer to continue living with the Cullens.”

“Could you explain why?”

“They have become like family to me, I feel safe there.”

“Did you feel unsafe before?”

It took me some time to start talking again.

“It wasn’t too bad with Ch- my dad but I wasn’t dealing with my problems yet. Living with veronica would mean I’d feel unsafe, things have happened to me when she had custody.”

“You mean your mother.”

“She’s not my mother, she didn’t take care of me, didn’t protect me the way a mother should.”

“Can you explain what she didn’t protect you from?”

“Your honor, We’d like to enter this police report for your eyes only that would answer that question.” Our lead attorney said, holding up a thick police file.

It had Charlies handwriting on the outside, I’d guess that it was my rape file but it had grown way thicker. The judge signalled him forward and accepted he file, it felt like ages as she read through it. When she finally closed it, she looked back at me.

“Bella, is it true what is in this file?”

“If it is what I guess it is then yes.” I said with my head hung low.

“I have to ask you Bella, you still have more than a school year to finish, is this truly what you want? Adoption cannot just be undone.”

“Yes, I will of course visit my dad and sister often, Sarah and I go to the same school as well but it’s what I want, I have never been happier than the past months, I feel blessed to have experienced the love I have been surrounded with on a daily basis. I love my dad don’t get me wrong, but I’ve felt at home for the first time in my life. Esme is always there when I need to be comforted, Carlisle is there to support me through my problems, Emmett and Jasper are always up for a game, Alice is always prepared to help me with my clothes, just don’t go shopping with her cause it’s brutal and Rosalie has become my best friend. It’s home. I know some people have it in their heads that I take advantage of them, and if accepting their love and care it taking advantage then I’m guilty as charged.”

“Very well. I know it’s unusual in custody cases to make a ruling this quickly but given with what has been brought to my attention I cannot in good faith transfer custody to the plaintiff, I’m dismissing the request and since the other parties involved all seem to be in favor I’m going to waiver the waiting period and fully approve the adoption in good faith. Furthermore, I’m issuing a restraining order for the duration of the police investigation against Bella’s biological mother.”

Veronica looked nailed to the floor. I flew into Esme’s arms, a little too fast but not in a supernatural way just yet. Soon we were joined by the rest of the family. When we were done hugging I looked to the judge and mouthed thank you, it was obvious from the look on her face that she knew she made the right ruling. We went out to dinner with our group, I texted the wolfpack for somebody that could trade with Sarah since we wouldn’t make it back in time. Alice insisted shopping with her wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one that felt like my burden had gotten lighter. There still was paperwork to do but from now on I would be going through life as Bella Cullen. Once outside of the restaurant and having waved off Charlie and Sarah I pulled Esme back into a hug.

“Mom I hope one day you will understand how much it means to me that I have officially become your daughter Bella Cullen while I was still Isabella Swan. Thank you for everything. I love you.” I whispered low enough so the others wouldn’t hear.

“I love you too sweetheart, I think I understand how important it is to you. Welcome to the family Bella Cullen.” She whispered back

And tomorrow, Bella Cullen is going on a date with Rosalie Hale and we’d make a confession to Charlie.


	16. we're going to a party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gang, i'll admit this is a little bit of a filler chapter to get a few things out of the way. I'm working up to action and smut. Enjoy.

**Chapter** **16**

**Let's get one thing straight. I'm** **not** **.**

I woke up Saturday morning with my most beloved Rose in my arms. I would have loved to have stayed there enjoying that moment for all eternity but I had a patrol to run. Rose and I got up, she went to shower and I got changed into my wolf clothes. We met back up in the kitchen as I sat down for breakfast. Esme had cooked huevos rancheros. After breakfast Rose came with my through the garage, she was going to catch up on her mechanical work.

“Be careful out there.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Bella, telling Charlie today, are you sure you want to do that?”

I got close to Rose and held her hands. “I think part of the guilt I feel since I really came to live here permanently is that I haven’t been completely honest with Charlie, he has a right to know. If he hates me for it than that’s his right too. But I don’t think he will. Regardless I think Charlie deserves to know that I’m not straight and that I’m in a relationship with you. I love you darling, I don’t want to hide that anymore. Are you sure that you’re ready for it?”

“I don’t want us to ruin your relationship with your dad.”

“Have some faith darling.” I said and gave her a cocky grin.

I could see that rose needed some extra convincing. I leaned in and kissed her. We both opened our mouths a little and let my hot air combine with hers. I carefully introduced my tongue, letting Rose decide if she was ready for it. Rose started using her tongue too. I held her with a hand in the small of her back. We broke off the kiss after Emmett passed by and gave commentary, we gave him a double death glare. Once he decided he’d best go inside quickly we both smiled at each other.

“You know darling, one of these days you should admit that you kissed a girl and you loved it.” I said and gave her a cocky grin.

“I think mom and dad already know I’m gay.” She replied.

“Oh so you’re gay now? Here I was thinking you’re a straight girl that wanted to do some experimenting.”

Rose pinched me.

“That’s gonna bruise and I got to warn you I’m not really into BDSM.”

“You heal quickly, I’ll bet it’s already healed. And I guess I always was, I’m just able to admit it to myself now.”

“I’m proud of you darling. I love you, see you soon.”

“I love you too, be careful.”

After a quick kiss I went into the woods undressed and phased instantly. I went to the agreed upon starting point and was soon joined by Sarah who of course was immediately informed of the tongue kiss in the garage due to me thinking about it.

“EWW. Stop thinking about it.”

“Says the girl that used to kiss a vampire.”

“At least I didn’t make other people relive it. Are you really gonna tell dad today?”

“I think it’s for the best, he has the right to know doesn’t he?”

“I guess he does.”

“Sarah you take the left loop I’ll take the right.”

We both set off on our respective routes.

“So Bella now that you are adopted, will you be using the Cullen last name?”

“Yeah I will, I hate this happened but I love it too, you know.”

“I understand miss Cullen, don’t forget I’ve seen what Veronica did to you. You deserve your happiness and I understand how Esme has become your mom, I’ll help with Charlie.”

“Cullen being my last name will take some getting used to in all honesty.”

“The kids at school are gonna freak, no way will you be able to hide that shit.”

“Uh I can hear Jessica gossiping already.”

“Don’t worry sis, I got your back, during your absence Jake and I have become quite the team in shutting her down.

We were silent during the remainder of our first loops. When we met up again and set off for a second set of loops we got talking again.

“So are you going to bring her to the bonfire? You know the elders will freak.”

“She has every right to be there, if they don’t like it they can go to hell.”

“Yeah but doesn’t the treaty forbid one of them from setting foot on the tribal land? Wait are you even allowed on tribal land considering they are legally your family?”

“If I bring Rose tonight and the elders want to enforce the treaty, who’s gonna do it? You know you cant lay a finger on Rose because she is my imprint.”

“Good points, this stuff is getting complicated.”

“Speaking off complicated, how’s things between you and Jake?”

“Still best friends, I’m just not ready, it’s fortunate he understands.”

We patrolled a bit more till Sarah broke our silence.

“Hey why did you stand up for Edward when those Volturi leeches were gonna do our job for us?”

“I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to hurt Esme or Carlisle, they still love him you know. I don’t think Esme is capable of hating anyone. I mean they are both deeply disappointed in him and I guess Carlisle’s compassion had been rubbing off on me.”

“I’d say they all have been rubbing off on you, what’s up with you wearing dresses all of a sudden?”

“Rose said she like seeing me in a dress.” I defended myself.

“That explains it. Sarah laughed.

“I hope Jake will say he loves seeing you walk on your hands, Sarah. Maybe I should order him to say that.”

“Ok ok ok, I wont make any jokes about it anymore.”

After we patrolled our loops we were joined by Sam and Seth.

“You don’t have to work today Sam?”

“I have a couple hours off.” Sam said defensively.

I explained the routes Sarah and I had done and the ones I wanted Sam and Seth would do. Soon they were off running and Sarah and I returned to our respective homes. I used my wolf nose to smell if rose was still in her workshop. I phased outside the shop, got dressed and went inside. Rose was working on the hemi engine she’s going to put into her Cuda. I used my superspeed to get over to her and behind her. I gave her a kiss on the back of her head.

“How is my favourite mechanic?” I asked and gave her more kisses causing her to giggle.

“Come on Bella be careful, I’ll get grease all over you.”

“I have to take a shower anyway and you’re too sexy in your coveralls with your hair in a messy bun while working on a engine to not touch.”

I kissed her on the right side of her neck and gave a little bite on her earlobe. She turned around throwing her arms around me getting me all greasy and we quickly got lost in another tongue kiss. I had patrolled for quite some time so the kiss broke off when my stomach rumbled.

“I’m keeping you from lunch and a shower.”

“You could always join me in the shower, I could use some help scrubbing my back.”

Rose looked a little shy and unsure. I lifted her head up by her chin.

“Hey it’s ok if you’re not ready yet. It’s a big step, I get it. Whenever you feel that were going to fast just let me know.”

“No it’s just that I have already seen you naked.”

“That doesn’t really count I think, I wasn’t exactly in my prime.” I said followed by an even louder stomach rumble.

“You really need to start eating a larger breakfast if you’re gonna patrol right after.”

“Yeah wouldn’t be the worst idea. The huevos rancheros were delicious though.”

“Next time you should let Esme know that you need a bigger breakfast, you’re needs are important too Bella. Promise?”

“Promise.” I said followed by another stomach rumble

“I don’t mind washing your back but I’d like to wrap up this engine disassembly.”

“I’ll go take a quick shower and have lunch, not sure Esme will let me sit down anywhere given how dirty you made me. I’ll come back when I’m done. I guess I’ve been keeping you from your work when I’m sleeping haven’t i?”

“Not really, I enjoy being with you when you sleep. And I spend the time reading, catching up on some YouTube videos, watching you sleep and besides if I wasn’t there I’d miss out on you saying my name in your sleep.”

I started blushing again.

“I think it’s very cute and I love that you think of me even in your dreams.”

“Sometimes I still think you’re a dream. Don’t pinch me again, I know I’m awake.”

I leaned in and kissed her again before leaving. When I got back to the house I realized I had several greasy streaks on me. I tried to sneak upstairs but Esme caught me.

“Lunch will be ready in 15 minutes, shower now before you get my house dirty.”

“Yes mom.”

After my shower I got into a new pair of jeans, apparently Alice had returned from her shopping trip due to a lack of trunk space. They fit like a glove. To my surprise Alice had gotten me some new band shirts as well, I chose a led zeppelin one and a old pair of boots. I dropped by Alice’s room and pulled the tiny pixie into a hug and thanked her. Esme had made a big casserole of Mexican lasagne.

“You know I don’t mind to do some of the cooking too, I’m the only one here that eats after all. I don’t want to keep you from your work.”

“I don’t mind to do the cooking, I love it and sweetheart I have plenty of time in the day to get my work done, Carlisle is the only one of the family that works fulltime, I only work part time. I wanted to ask you something though.”

“Is the Mexican lasagne to soften me up or is it just lunch? Cause it’s delicious either way.” I replied and caused Esme to chuckle.

“It’s just lunch and thank you. But I’ve been meaning to ask, what do you want your last name to be? We got to get the paperwork finished and that’s part of it.”

“Mom I want to be a Cullen. Rose and me are pretty much together for all eternity anyway and it kinda means a lot to be a complete legal part of the family while I’m still living on my real identity if that makes sense. I know that 10 years from now or probably less that I’ll be living under a different identity and all that. I just want it to be as official and real as possible.”

“So Cullen it is then. Where are you and Rose going tonight?” Esme confirmed my choice and quickly changed the subject.

“Well we are going to tell Charlie about us. I don’t even know if he knows that I’m gay, so yeah. Fun times. And afterwards is a surprise that I cant reveal in a house where everybody has superhearing.”

“I’m sure that Charlie will accept you and he better approve of Rose or I’ll have words with him. Esme said motherly and I chuckled.

“Thanks mom, it’s just that I don’t want Charlie to think later that the only reason I moved in here and wanted to be adopted is because of Rose. And I’m afraid he could think that if I keep our relationship quiet. It’s helpful though that he at least knows about the shifters, I would like to visit the old man for a long time.”

“I know for a fact Charlie knows why you wanted to live here and telling about Rose isn’t going to change that. If Charlie doesn’t know about your sexual orientation I don’t think it will be a problem for him. Charlie is more modern than you’d think.”

“Thanks for the talk mom.”

“It’s nothing sweetheart.”

After finishing lunch, I thanked Esme again, got some stuff from my room and rushed back to Rose’s workshop. I made it clear she could touch me until she had a bath, Alice would kill me if I got grease on the new clothes. we hung out until it was nearly 5 PM. I chilled in the sitting area of the shop with the tv on car related programs and used the time to catch up on e mails and social media, watched Rose work and did some reading. We walked back to the house together in no big hurry.

“Why don’t you use your vampire abilities to work on cars?”

“I’d only use them in a emergency, I like working at a more human pace, it relaxes me. Are those new clothes btw?”

“Alice.” We said together.

“She’s actually been considerate and got some clothes I liked. I do think given enough time she’ll have stocked my entire closet.”

“So what am I to wear tonight for your surprise?”

“You don’t have to wear anything special, it will be very informal.”

“Jeans and a shirt?”

“Sure.”

We gave chaste kiss in the living room so that I wouldn’t get dirty before Rose went upstairs to shower. I had some more chess lessons from Jasper while waiting for Rose. After half an hour Rose came down in jeans, a shirt and a light jacket with her hair in a loose side braid.

“Is it too much?” she asked as I was staring.

“Uh no I was just thinking how you would truly look smoking hot in a burlap sack.”

Alice appeared on the stairs. “I’d never let my sisters walk around in a burlap sack.”

“Figure of speech Alice, I haven’t given up yet on trying to make Rose blush and I don’t believe I ever will.” I said as rose and I walked to the garage hand in hand.

“Good luck.” Esme said from the kitchen.

“Thanks mom.”

Rose and I got into the Nissan, and I drove us to Charlie’s house. I was collecting my nerves when Rose reminded me that it was almost dinner time when Sarah had waved from the kitchen window.

“No time like the present.” I said when we got out of the car.

We went inside and sat down in the living room on the couch, not surprisingly Charlie was watching a game but had quickly said hi to Rose and me.

“Dad, we need to talk, I need to tell you a few things.” I said with a serious tone.

Charlie turned the volume down, a sign that he had heard I was serious. Jake and Sarah had joined us in the living room to serve as a buffer if needed.

“What’s the matter Bells?”

“Well there’s no easy way to tell you this so I’ll just be direct. Dad I’m gay.” I said shyly

“I know, please tell me you weren’t afraid to tell me.”

“Well you always hear the stories, you know. The other thing is that I wanted to let you know that I’ll be taking the Cullen last name.”

“Make’s sense I suppose. I kinda figured you would with the adoption and all that.”

“Dad I want you to know that you didn’t fail me or anything, that’s not why I moved in with the Cullens, nor is what I’m about to say. Do you understand me?”

“Bella I’ve seen how you are around them, Esme especially. Since you visit regularly I look at it more like a joint custody kind of thing, living there is the best thing for you. So there’s nothing you can say that will make me angry about it.”

Rose gave my hand a squeeze.

“Well dad, I’d like to officially introduce you to my girlfriend, Rosalie Hale.” I said with a smile.

Charlie got up and looked upset when he got his wallet out to give Jake ten bucks.

“Guess I lost that bet then.”

“What bet?! What is going on here?”

“Jake bet me that you’d introduce Rosalie as your girlfriend before the school year is over. Somehow I think he’s been cheating. Anyway what are your intentions with my oldest daughter, Rosalie?”

“Always do right by her, make her happy and forever sir.” Rose said

“little early to say forever isn’t it?”

“Well I imprinted on Rosalie dad, it’s a shifter thing. And Rosalie had something similar happen. We are each others soul mates. You don’t need to know the details but safe to say the universe determined a long time ago that Rose and I would be perfect for each other.”

“I give up, all this supernatural stuff is above my head.”

“Dad, you know that if you’re cool with it and don’t ask questions that we can keep seeing each other for as long as you live. Just think about that for a while. I’m glad you’ve taken the news well though.”

“At least you didn’t have to suffer through his awkward sex talk.” Sarah mentioned with a look on her face like she hadn’t enjoyed it at all before she headed back into the kitchen.

It was soon dinner time, Sarah had made tex mex chicken casseroles using my grandma’s recipe. Rose ate a little, commenting that I really should give that recipe to Esme. Charlie insisted on doing the dishes so we kids could have a nice evening, saying he was spoiled enough already. Sarah and Jake went to get ready and we left together, Rose and I in the Nissan.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re going to a party of sorts. We’re meeting up at a friends house.”

As we kept driving Rosalie suddenly realized where we were headed.

“Bella, I can’t go there, you know about the treaty. Turn around the car.” She said in a panic and I grabbed her hand tightly.

“Rose there isn’t really a treaty anymore and if there is, it doesn’t apply to you. You’re my imprint, no shifter can harm you, it’s our most sacred law.”

“Bella that doesn’t mean I’ll be welcome.”

“Darling you have nothing to worry about, you’ll be welcome there. Some may be a little weary at first but I have full confidence they’ll soon warm up to you. Imprinting is taken really seriously.”

“I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“like I said we’re forbidden to enter tribal lands per the treaty. It means it’s instantly revoked.”

I focused hard on Rose and managed to open a link.

“Bella? Why can I hear you in my head?”

“It’s something I can do. I think it has something to do with some vampires not being able to use their gifts on me.” I listened to Rose’s thoughts. “Yes, Jane couldn’t use her gift on me that’s why she used it on you. Now listen to my thoughts on imprinting, the pack and my authority as Alpha, if you still don’t trust me then I’ll turn the car around.”

I showed rose the memories and thoughts she wanted to hear and loosened my grip on her hand.

“I trust you.” She said with a smile. Causing my to lift our hands so I could place a kiss on hers.

Just before I closed the link I let her know what she means to me.

“I love you too Bella.”

“I cant promise I’ll never open a link again, the first time is always the hardest but I’m pretty sure it would protect you from vampires like Jane.”

“It was kind of nice actually, not like Edward snooping in your mind without you even being aware.”

“We’re almost there, we’re meeting up at Sam and Emily’s house, it’s kinda the unofficial official pack HQ. Emily is Sam’s imprint. Just try to relax darling, everything will be ok.”

Rose was still having kittens when we arrived and It took some convincing to get her out of the car. We walked up to the house hand in hand, everybody was sitting outside as we walked up and we saw Embry hand money to Quill. I explained to rose that they like to bet and that Embry probable betted I wouldn’t bring you or you wouldn’t come. As we were about to take a seat Emily came outside with food.

“You must be the vampire girl I’ve heard so much about.” She said to Rose. The pack had accepted Rosalie quite some time ago and without my giving an edict they would never call her a derogatory term like leech or bloodsucker.

“That must make you the wolf mother I’ve heard about.” Rose replied causing the pack to burst out in laughter. It caused Rose to feel embarrassed.

“She’s got you there Em.” Jared said.

“Wolf mother is such an appropriate nickname for you.” Leah laughed out.

The various banter going back and forth quickly had Rose feeling comfortable.

“I think they are starting to warm up to you darling. I said with a smile to Rose.

“Rosalie can I get you a drink I can whip up just for you? Bella said you guys get a little nutrition out of it if blood is added.” Emily asked

“You don’t have to bother and I’m not thirsty in that way.” Rose said slightly panicky.

“Relax darling, that’s not what she meant the pack knows pretty much everything about you already, they know you never had human blood and how everybody here could start bleeding and you’d just treat our wounds without slipping up. They want you to feel included. So do you want some blood wine?” I comforted Rose.

“Sure. But I’m not a Klingon so can we call it something else.” Rose replied making me chuckle.

“You sure ain’t a Klingon, you’re far too beautiful for that. We’ll think of a different name for it.”

Emily came back outside and handed rose her drink.

“I hope you don’t mind that it’s with deer blood, it was the best I could do on short notice.”

“Oh that’s perfect I tend to go for the herbivores anyway.”

Rose had quickly integrated herself in the pack, Sam had been uneasy at first when Emily had sat down next to Rose, but even he had started to warm up to Rose eventually. After a few hours the sunset had started and a ray of sunlight had come through causing rose to sparkle. She wanted to go inside quickly but I stopped her.

“Rose, you don’t need to hide here darling.”

“Sorry, I forgot and it’s a habit really.”

“it’s like she has thousands of diamonds embedded in her skin.” said Embry in amazement.

In fairness everybody had been in awe. After the sun had set we were joined by the council, to say old Quill wasn’t at easy would be a understatement, but Billy and Sue were more open minded. I introduced Rosalie to them.

“Rose this is Quill Ataera III but we all call him old Quill to avoid confusion with Quill V over there, you would have met his dad back in the day when you guys made the treaty. We’re fortunate he’s still with us cause Sam over there nearly caused him to have a stroke when he shook his hand and old Quill noticed Sam was running a little hot. That’s Billy black, the grandson of Ephraim Black who was the chief you made the treaty with. And that’s Sue Clearwater, she’s the widow of Harry clearwater having taken his place on the council after his passing. She’s also Charlie’s girlfriend though neither one of them seems to be able to admit to it. My guess is that they are afraid their children wont approve.”

“Bella!” Sue said causing everybody to laugh because she was so embarrassed.

“Welcome Rosalie, I hope you are feeling welcome.” Billy said once we had settled down.

“Thank you, I’m starting to get at ease.”

Old Quill simply gave Rose a nod. The council got down to a little bit of business with me and Jake, it was something I had insisted on him being included in. So the rest of the pack kept Rose entertained. By the time we were done old Quill was increasingly uneasy. Just as the council was about to leave he pulled out a small knife

“I will prove that you cannot be trusted cold one.” Old Quill said as he was about to move the knife down to his wrist with the intent of slitting it.

Everybody froze in shock and the first to react was Rose. She blurred towards old Quill and forced his arm back up and took the knife from him.

“We were having a good evening here, I would appreciate it if you didn’t ruin it by cutting an artery, causing a mess and having to be driven to the hospital. You’re lucky it doesn’t need stitches now. Emily can you get some antiseptic, gauze and a bandage so that we can make sure this stubborn old fool doesn’t catch an infection.” Rose said while inspecting old quill’s lightly slit wrist.

Billy and Sue were furious with old Quill, as was the pack. Emily quickly returned with her first aid kit. Rose treated his wound and dressed it.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Old Quill finally said.

“Oh you were thinking, you thought she would lose control. At least that was what you wanted. As far as I’m concerned your intent was to cause harm to my imprint by forcing a situation. You are in violation of our most sacred law. You are no longer welcome on the council until you have repented and formally apologized to everybody. Billy and Sue I have full confidence you’ll find a suitable replacement for him in the meantime. Go home old man.” I said in my authoritarian voice.

Sue chastised old Quill all the way to his house. Billy formally apologized to Rose, whom assured him she had taken no offense.

“It’s one thing to hear it from Bella in her thoughts when patrolling that you aren’t dangerous, it’s another thing to see it with my own eyes.” Paul said. Quickly joined by other pack members.

“Can we please forget about this?” Rose asked

Soon Jake had taken Billy home and conversation had started up again. Everybody was impressed with how Rose had handled herself during old Quill’s stupid stunt. When it was almost 22 PM I took Roses hand and told everybody we’d take a walk on the beach and then go home, Paul and Quill were already gone on patrol. We said our goodbyes and got in the Nissan and I drove us over to first beach. We took off our boots and went to walk on the beach eventually sitting down.

“I love this beach, even at night.”

“I can see why.”

“I’m sorry about what happened.”

“it’s nothing Bella, he’s just an old man stuck in his ways. He’s not wrong though, we are still dangerous.”

“I believe in you darling.” I said and took my t shirt off. I got up and took off my pants. “Care to come for a swim?”

“Bella the water will be cold, you’ll freeze.”

“Not with my temperature.” I assured her.

Rose took off her clothes as well and we got in the water, eventually we were deep enough that we could swim. After a short swim, we shared a kiss in the water and eventually we returned to the beach. And I ran to the car to get out the towels I had put in the trunk bringing them back. Rose was not surprised I had come prepared. After toweling off as best as we could we got dressed again and made our way home. I had been so secret about what my plan had been that we had the entire family curiously waiting for us in the living room when we arrived. They were shocked at first and worried that Rose had been on tribal lands, but understood after I explained why Rose was for sure an exception to the treaty due to being my imprint, there was a twinkling in Carlisle’s eyes when they found out about the stunt old Quill had pulled, he even stated how proud he was of Rose, Esme was proud too judging from her smile. Eventually we made our way upstairs and quickly showered. I had been quick enough and we slept in Roses room.

Sunday was a calm day, I hadn’t been able to enjoy waking up as much as normal, I had a very early morning patrol, came back to eat breakfast hung out with Rose in her workshop where I fell asleep and napped for an hour. After dinner I had a long patrol and didn’t get back until late in the evening. I was dead on my feet again and gladly fell asleep in Rose’s embrace for a change.

Monday we were supposed to start in school again but it was sunny when I woke up. We had discussed this issue earlier and to avoid suspicion I stayed home as well, officially of course since it was sunny the family went hiking. Rose and I went to a very secluded spot near a river, where we laid in the sun and swam. Since Alice had accurately predicted it would return to the more typical overcast a couple hours after lunch I went with Esme to the DMV for my new official drivers license and got some other paperwork handled. Tuesday was going to be the typical overcast and rainy day. So Monday evening I decided to have a talk with Rose.

“Rose, do you want to hide us at school? I know it’s gonna be a big deal for a while if we come out as a couple.”

“I don’t care what those humans think, I’m proud to be in a relationship with you. I’m not even sure if we could successfully hide it” She replied causing me to blush again.

“I love you Rose.”

“I love you Bella.”

We started kissing until we got hit by a pillow thrown by Emmett. Causing us to laugh. We finished watching the movie with the rest of the family then went upstairs and went to bed.


	17. I hate pears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gang, thank you so much for all the comments and kudos. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 17**

**Never eat pears, they are too squishy and  
they always make your chin wet.**

Tuesday morning, we arrived at school in Rose’s BMW M3 I had the cane with me to use as a prop again. We were earlier than needed because I had to stop by the office, due to my excellent tests under Esme’s tutelage the school had been convinced to put me in the advanced program. Added advantage of that was that I now shared more Classes with Rose.

“You sure about this darling? Once the toothpaste is out of the tube you can’t put it back in. We’ll have to hear shit about it all day and the worst will be the overly hormonal teenage boys.”

“Bella, it’s going to be something we’ll have to get used to anyway I guess, with the life we live doing high school over again will be common. And I’ll never be afraid to show the world that I love you.”

I leaned in for a quick kiss before we got out of the car. I nearly forgot my cane, I’ll be glad to get rid of the thing in fairness. Stupid prop was starting to bother me, but Carlisle insisted in keeping up appearances, just one more week he had said. And even then you’ll get questions but it will be more believable when you say you’re a quick healer. The people of forks had of course never been aware of the true extent of my injuries, large parts of my body had been shattered, especially my legs and hip, my left arm had been bad as well, the right wasn’t too bad. But to the people of forks I had merely suffered from a fractured femur in my left leg and less complicated breaks in my right thanks to a bad accident. Prop cane in one hand and once together, Rose’s hand in the other we walked into school. It seemed many of the innocent school children in Forks weren’t getting it. We actually heard them say semi nice things about Rose. Mostly about her helping me out to get around the school by assisting me to my various classes. There was also the expected talk about Isabella Cullen, Fortunately I wasn’t treated like the shiny new toy this time. During physics our last class before lunch I whispered to Rose low enough so nobody could hear it.

“We should just make out in the cafeteria, that would get the point across and make the rest of the family uncomfortable.”

Rose had to clamp her mouth so she wouldn’t start laughing, It had been a unwritten rule in the Cullen household to only be affectionate up to a certain degree around the other family members. Mated pairs, especially early on, would drive other vampires insane. So it was a unwritten rule that you went into a room or outside for making out or sex, though the latter part had not yet happened with Rose and me. But a long make out session inevitably made us aroused and everybody uncomfortable, they often did their best to break it up before we got to that stage.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you again since we got out of the car.” Rose whispered back and gave me a seductive look.

“It’s on woman.” I said and gave her a cocky grin.

We walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. Alice was waiting for us. She insisted we’d let the humans find out in their own pace. Rose and I debated it and ultimately relented, there was enough talk already about me having been adopted by the Cullens. Rose loaded a tray for the both of us, though of course I was the one that ate all the food, she had nearly put a pear on the tray when I reminded her that I hate pears. I did want to rip out some of these kids parents throats when I heard them regurgitate the gossip they had heard from their parents. That alone had quickly gotten me into a sour mood. After lunch it was time for PE, a class I’m still excused from, which I didn’t mind, since I had started phasing my supernatural abilities had fully unlocked and I no longer enjoyed sports. I had quickly found it was somewhat draining to appear still human, I needed to be constantly vigilant or I’d run way too fast, use too much strength, fortunately the strength I gained from that mountain lion I had drained had large worn off by now. But I was still supernaturally strong. Soon school was over and after our last class Rose and I walked hand in hand back to the car. Finally, there was a couple of kids that started having suspicions. I looked at Rose and she was also grinning as we got into the car. Rose turned on the radio and soon AC/DC was blasting through the cars sound system and we started our way home. I had patrol right after school a new rhythm was going to be essential, the advanced classes meant more homework and unlike my siblings I did need my sleep. But with a bit of luck I’d graduate around Christmas next school year. After a uneventful patrol I dropped by Emily’s house for a meeting. There hadn’t been any sightings of Victoria but the disappearances and unexplained deaths in several major cities including Seattle had us worried, it felt like a reckoning was coming. The last vampire we had come across was targeting Sarah’s personal items, sent by Victoria. I went home and arrived in time for dinner after a quick shower. Jasper had wanted to talk to me, so I had him sit down while I ate.

“She might be creating an army.”

“What do you mean Jazz?”

“Let me tell you my story, why I have all these scars and why vampires that are strangers are afraid of me because of them. I didn’t have the same upbringing as my siblings. I was born in 1844, as a child I dreamt of the adventure military life offered. I had always been charismatic and could easily persuade people, most likely the non vampiric form of my gift. When the civil war started I had enlisted in the confederate army, please do not judge me for that now, times were different back then, by lying about my age. A couple years later I was the youngest major in the confederate army, without even taking into account my real age. I was tasked with organizing and overseeing the evacuation of Galveston, when I had gotten the first group to safety I got a fresh horse and rode back to Galveston. Along the road I came upon 3 beautiful women, I knew they hadn’t been part of the first group because I would have remembered them. I rode up to them to offer assistance, I soon learned their names were Maria, Lucy and Netty and I learned what they were after Maria changed me. The three of them had recently lost their territories, you see in the south vampires figured out that the more territory they controlled the more often they could feed without attracting suspicion, so they made newborn armies to fight for new territory and hold onto existing territory. I was placed in their army, my gift and talent for leadership allowed me to win every fight, fighting among themselves was common in the newborn army. Maria recognized my potential and after conferring with Lucy and Netty they placed me in charge of the newborns. I controlled their tempers and trained them. Soon we had recaptured Maria’s former territory with few casualties, I kept rising through the ranks when I had warned Maria of the imminent betrayal I felt from Lucy and Netty. Maria understood that I liked being in charge. We’d always keep a dozen or so newborns on hand just in case, but after a year or so their usefulness ceased so it was my job to dispose of them. Eventually I had convinced Maria to keep on a newborn, his name was Peter. Peter was good in advanced combat and was a kindred spirit. He was given my old job of watching over the newborns. We disposed of the useless ones together from that point forwards, I was growing increasingly remorseful over the years when disposing of them because I could feel their pain, just like I can feel the pain of my human victims. Years Later we were disposing of a year old batch of newborns and Peter attempted to run off with Charlotte, one of the newborns that was to be destroyed. My gift allowed me to feel the bond and love between them, so after I initially had tried to stop them I allowed them to escape. Maria’s feelings for me, we had been in a relationship up to that point, changed after that. She became mistrustful and sometimes fearful of me. The following years were increasingly uneasy, until Peter and Charlotte came back at great risk to themselves and told me how different life up north was, there were no wars and when vampires came across each other it generally was a friendly reaction, not to mention the possibility of being outside in the day time. I was tired of the constant war and I was depressed so I left with them and traveled with them for a long time. At first my depression got a little better but it grew worse every time I fed, so eventually I fed as little as possible and ended up leaving them to wander around on me own. And then –“ Alice interrupted him, I hadn’t noticed her entering the kitchen being so wrapped up in Jazz’ story.

“Then he entered a diner to hide in during the day and I was waiting for him. I told him that I had been waiting for him a long time and that there was a different way for us to live.”

“And I said I’m sorry ma’am.” Jasper leaned in and gave Alice a kiss.

“Uh gross.” I said causing them both to laugh.

“You’re one to talk Bella, how do you think the rest of us feel when you and Rose are making out in public parts of the house.” Alice chided me

“What Rose and I have is different.” I tried to give as a rebuttal causing them both to roll their eyes.

“The thing is with all these disappearances and murders, being contributed to serial killers. I think Victoria is making a new borne army to fight us. She may have spent enough time in the south to get the idea of how to fight against a strong coven. If that’s the case we should be ready for it. We have some other allies that would be helpful in a fight aside from your pack. And we should train, fighting a newborn army is something different than fighting one or two of them while they are trying to run away.”

“I’ll have to talk with the pack and the council but they are aware that I have wanted to replace the treaty that barely still exists with an alliance. When needed you can train all of us in fighting an army?”

“I can teach you.”

“Alice can you keep an eye out?”

“I can but I think they, or at least Victoria knows about how my visions work.” Alice replied with a sigh.

“I’ll meet with the pack and council tomorrow; I’d like to spend a little time with a certain lady tonight and I’ve yet to do my homework.”

“I’ll help you with your homework if you promise to spend the time with a certain lady out of the living room.” Alice said causing me to laugh but accept her deal.

With Alice’s help my homework was quickly done, she even predicted the grading I’d get for them. I went over to Rose who was in her workshop. I went over to the Cuda she was working on.

“Bad news, we’re not allowed in the house tonight, I made a deal with the devil.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Alice helped me with my homework and in turn we can’t be in the living room. Any public part of the house basically.”

“Ok I’ll just spend the entire night here then.”

“No you won’t, I got something else in mind.” I replied and gave Rose a naughty look.

“Bella Cullen what are you up to now?”

“Well, remember when you complained how the bathwater always cools down quickly when you take a bath?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you cool it down, but I counteract that, so we’re gonna get in the hot tub once you’re finished here.”

Rose quickly wrapped up her work and after she took a shower we got into the hot tub, we talked a little but soon we moved on to making out it had started innocently with a kiss or two in between talking but feeling Rose’s cool hard yet incredibly smooth and soft lips against my hot soft yet hard lips was addicting, when we opened our mouths a little, her cool breath mixed with my hot breath and I quickly wanted more, it had rapidly gone into tongue kissing territory and I couldn’t help myself but to touch Rose even more, my hands went to some of my favorite spots, that slight curve in the small of her back, the soft nape of her neck Rose had started touching the small of my back and one of my thighs and it was driving me crazy I moved a hand to touch the side of one of her breasts. In a brief second of clarity, I realized where this would lead to. So not knowing how far she was willing to go I cut it off. I acted casual and said that I would turn into a raisin if I stayed in the hot tub much longer.

Once out I dried myself off and suggested that we could watch some tv. I went downstairs to the kitchen for a snack and to cool off since I was still very much aroused. Once back upstairs we watched some supernatural to wrap up the night, as supernatural beings we found that show entertaining. Rose had mentioned several times that she’d want to restore a 1967 Chevy Impala, perhaps I aught to locate one that’s in restorable condition, as a surprise for Rose. As we were watching Rose had noticed something was wrong with me, I was distant and we weren’t cuddling as usual. She laid a hand on my shoulder breaking my concentration.

“Bella what’s wrong, you’re behaving strangely?”

“Errr, uhm. Nothing, I, I just got lost in thought.”

Rose wasn’t buying it but didn’t press things any further. I kept getting wired and I needed to chill or I wouldn’t close an eye, so I went on the balcony and smoked a joint for the first time in a while. Rose came after me and sat down as well.

“Bella is it about what happened to you when you were a kid?”

“No it’s not about that.”

“Bella, when you’re ready to talk I’m here for you, please don’t shut me out.”

I nodded in response. I wasn’t ready for this conversation. Our first time would be inevitable of course but I don’t want Rose to feel forced. I knew how the end of her human life had been and due to my own experiences I could understand how brutal it was. The last thing I wanted was my own horniness and lust to make her feel like she did back then. Once my joint was finished I was relaxed and sleepy. I told Rose I’d be going to bed.

“Do you want me to stay? I know you’re upset about something.”

I tapped the bed next to me and Rose got under the covers. The exhaustion and weed had me quickly fall asleep.

The next morning I had a big breakfast. I kept my distance from Rose at school as much as I could. After school I said hi to Esme and left for the rez to share with the pack and council what Jazz had been thinking. I drove over to Emily’s house. I was way early which turned out to be a good thing. I had just sat down when the call came, it seemed both Brady and Collin were about to phase, I immediately called Jake to hurry down to the rez and get to Collin’s house, since they were cousins. I was going to go to Brady’s. Up until now neither their parents were truly aware of what was going on with their sons. I texted in our group chats I wanted Leah, Quill and Sue with me at Brady’s house and Billy, Jake at Collin’s house. Since Sam was home from work I sent him directly to Collin’s, since after all, he did have experience with wolves phasing for the first time. I quickly got changed in the spare wolf clothes I kept at Emily’s and got in my car. When I arrived at the house I waited for Quill, Leah and Sue to arrive since they were distant relatives of Brady Fuller. Sue and I walked up to the house and I knocked. Mrs Fuller opened the door.

“Hi I’m Bella Cullen, I hear Brady is not feeling well and I need to talk to you and your husband about it.”

“I’m sorry this is really not a good time.” She replied and Sue cleared her throat to make Mrs Fuller open the door further.

“Oh councilwoman Clearwater I did not see you.”

“You need to let us in, Bella here is the de facto chief of the tribe. What we have to tell you and your husband is of great importance and it’s tribal business.”

Mrs Fuller stepped aside and let us into the house. Good thing that I had made Sue come down. We sat down in the small living room.

“I don’t understand how can she be the chief of our tribe?” Mr Fuller asked to Sue.

“Sit down and hear me out.” I said with a stern tone.

I started going over the legends quickly to make sure they were aware of them.

“Now I know this sounds strange but the wolves are real, our people still have the magic in our blood. From what we know there haven’t been any wolves your sons age before, they were always older. But all the signs are there, if you touch my arm or go outside to touch Quill or Leah’s arm you will feel that we are the same temperature as your son. He is about to phase, it’s why he has grown so much lately, it’s why he’s burning up and from what we heard he’s become temperamental. I wish this wouldn’t be inflicted upon your son at his age but I’m sorry we cannot stop it to our knowledge. Brady will phase and he will join the pack, in time he will get his inner wolf under enough control that he can stop phasing. Now if you excuse me I need to go see him.”

“This is nonsense, you’re not going anywhere near my son.”

“Patricia, I assure you that it’s not nonsense, show Bella where his room is. She is the Alpha of the pack and Brady will be compelled to follow her orders.” Sue said sternly.

She eventually got up and took me to Brady’s room. Once there I told her to return to the living room. I went in to check on Brady. He didn’t know who I was and it rubbed him the wrong way. The fever and growth spurt had weakened him, it was common for wolves that were about to phase the first time. Still Brady was violently shaking. I quickly picked him up and carried him outside into the woods. I kicked off my shoes along the way and nodded at Leah and Quill to signal them to phase. I had barely put Brady down and stepped back when he phased. Leah used her authority to make him stay put. Mrs Fuller had passed out when she saw Brady turn into a wolf. I used my superspeed to undress and phased myself.

“Brady, look at me.”

Brady’s head snapped to me. And I explained what happened to him and why. Brady thought It was the coolest thing in the world.

“Great an enthusiastic little puppy to follow the pack around.” Leah said.

“Brady I’m going to allow you to go run around but you need to stay close to Leah and Quill. You understand that you need to remain unseen right?.”

“I understand, please let me run, please let me run, please-“

“Leah go tire him out.”

Suddenly I was joined by a new unfamiliar voice. I saw Jake and billy in the background, it had to be Collin and he was running away.

“COLLIN STOP!” I ordered in my Alpha voice causing Collin to instantly freeze.

“What is happening? Who are you?”

“you have joined the pack, you are a shape shifter and I am your Alpha.”

“Why can’t I move?”

“Because she ordered you to stop, you cannot refuse an order given by her, me or Leah.” Jake said as he had joined us.

“You got this Jake?”

“Yeah.”

“You and Sam tire him out and get him to phase. I want the entire pack to meet at Emily’s for dinner.”

Jake and Sam acknowledged and I phased back to my human form and got dressed. Sue was taking care of mrs. fuller and I got a pair of shorts for Brady that would fit. We explained how they had to be careful for the time being to not cause Brady to be upset and that he would have a very large appetite. Both his parents got some relief from one of my pack rules, school attendance was mandatory and they could only be excused from school by the pack leadership. But generally given it was a standing Alpha order we were only bothered in true emergencies. We went over how we patrolled the area and that we protected the people from our enemies. To assure them I said that I had little intention of putting 13 year olds in dangerous situations. It had been a lot for them to take in. I told them that the entire pack, including Brady would be meeting at Emily and Sam Uley’s house for dinner but that he would be home in time for bed, he would however from now on regularly be with the pack for training and patrolling. They were to keep us informed on his performance in school. Sue would stay with them to continue talking with them until she had to come over for the council meeting at Emily’s. I went back outside with Brady’s pair of shorts and once in the woods I tied them to my leg together with mine. And phased again. Brady and Collin were starting to get tired, Brady more quickly due to how fast Leah was making him run. once I confirmed that Billy had added a pair of shorts for Collin to Jake’s clothes I ordered them to meet up at Emily’s, it would take them some time to phase anyway. In the woods while trying to get the puppies to phase Collin suddenly asked a question due to me thinking of Rose.

“Shouldn’t we kill her, she’s a cold one, our enemy?”

I ran over to him and nearly bit Collin’s head off. Jake and Leah quickly explained to the newcomers how she was my imprint and that hurting an imprint let alone killing one was against our most sacred law, while I growled at him viciously.

Collin was frozen in fear, laying on the ground.

“Get up Collin.”

He got back up.

“Now both of you focus and phase!” I ordered while walking away again.

It didn’t take long for them both to phase, the rest of us phased as well and once dressed I brought Brady his shorts, doing my best to give him privacy. Once everybody was dressed we went into Emily’s house. I introduced her as the pack’s wolf mother and that the boys had to do what she said when they were in her house. She had looked a little worried at the pink scars on Collin’s face so I told her what happened, she chastised Collin for it. As an imprint she knew all too well how protective wolves are of their imprint. We all knew Sam even peed outside the house when he comes back from a patrol to mark his territory. I helped Emily with the food prep. I gave Jake the cash I had on me and sent him to the Ateara family general store for even more food. I was of the opinion both boys were too skinny, they had been sick for a long time. Once the prep was done Emily took over, she wasn’t fond of people helping with anything other than prep or clean up. I grabbed two beers from the fridge, Emily never gave me trouble for it, handed one to Sam and signaled him to follow me outside.

“What would you have done Sam if you were still Alpha? You know what’s coming.”

“Leave them behind in La Push as a last line of defense.” He said with a sigh.

“I agree. I also understand why you’re such a relieved bastard these days.” I said causing him to chuckle.

After a big dinner with everybody encouraging the boys to eat plenty, the dishes were done by the wolves. Soon, Sue, Billy and Joy Ateara arrived. Joy had been filling in for old Quill since his stunt at the bon fire. She wasn’t a big fan of the Cullens either but she was less radical and less stuck in the old ways that old Quill is. I informed the council and the pack of the suspicion Jazz has and his offer to train all of us in fighting newborns. Given we all knew what was coming and being even better at fighting vampires the council agreed that the training was a good idea. I brought up forging an alliance with the Cullens again. Billy and Sue agreed to it, Joy was a little more reluctant but she was aware of how Rose had reacted to old Quill’s stunt so she agreed to it but wanted some protections left in place. The Cullens with the exception of me and Rose were to stay off tribal lands, Carlisle could come in medical emergencies, if chasing a vampire onto tribal lands it wasn’t considered a infraction anymore and they still couldn’t bite people. It seemed reasonable to everybody and I’m sure Carlisle would agree. Embry and Quill were off to go patrol. We hung out a bit longer so the council got the opportunity to talk to our puppies a little more before we took them home and went home ourselves.

Once I got home, I knocked on Carlisle’s office door and presented him and Esme with the alliance offer. Carlisle was a very compassionate man, he dislikes the idea of killing any person, human or vampire but he also realized we were being forced into a position where there wouldn’t be a choice anymore. I did my homework and took a long shower. Letting the stress wash off. When I was done Rose entered my room and saw I was dead on my feet. I told her I wanted to go to bed so we got under the covers and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next day we started training with Jazz, as wolves we mainly watched to see how we could implement it in our own tactics.

“Now remember, newborns rely on their instinct and their brute strength, due to their own blood lingering in their system they are incredibly strong. Do not under any circumstance let them get their arms around you, they will crush you with ease and do not go for the obvious direct kill, they will be expecting it.”

Since Emmett was the strongest he regularly played newborn while the family members fought with him, Jazz oversaw it all and called out their mistakes. I growled at Emmett when Rose was up. Jazz came over to tell me Rose would be fine no matter what and used his gift to keep me calm while Emmett and Rose battled it out. Thursday and Friday were similar, I had had a night time patrol on Thursday and being dead on my feet I had gone to bed as soon as I got home again. Early Saturday morning I was about to go train with the pack when Rose confronted me in the garage.

“Bella we need to talk, I’ve waited for you to open up but this has been killing me. You have been avoiding me like the plague since Tuesday. What is going on?” she demanded.

“I don’t know, I nearly lost control Tuesday and I’m giving you space, I don’t want to force you into something you’re not ready for.”

“Lose control? Force me into something that I’m not ready for? What are you talking about Bella?!”

“Rose in the hot tub we had being going further than we went before and I don’t want you to feel pressured in going even further.”

“This is about sex?! You think I don’t want to have sex with you?”

“I just don’t want you to feel forced into it because I want to have sex.”

“Bella you’re being silly, having sex with you is not like what happened to either of us.”

“I’m sorry Rose I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“You already have hurt me by treating me like I have leprosy.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry. I couldn’t figure out what to say and then all this training stuff happened. And I was afraid that talking about it would make you feel compelled to give me what I want.”

Rose came closer to me and took my hands, she let go of one to grab my chin and force me to look at her.

“Bella, the next time you have such silly notions I want you to talk to me about them immediately. I’ve been hurting this week because of it. But I have my share of the blame to shoulder. I have wanted to be intimate with you since our first kiss, I thought you had been hesitant because, you know.”

“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you the past days, can you forgive me darling?”

Rose cupped my face with both hands and pulled me in for a kiss, as soon as our lips touched she opened her mouth and I let her tongue make it’s way into my mouth.

“Answer enough? Now can you forgive me too?” she asked when she broke off the kiss.

“There’s nothing to forgive you for darling.” I said and leaned in to kiss her again.

After another tongue kiss the scent of our arousal was noticeable, the look in Rose’s eyes made it clear what she had on her mind.

“You know I could skip the training with the pack.”

Before Rose could answer Alice and Esme came into the garage with 2 Louis Vuitton carry on suitcases.

“We’re glad you two made up and made a decision.” Alice started.

“And we love you both so very much.” Esme continued.

“But we need you two to leave for the weekend.” Alice continued.

“A plane is waiting for you two in port Angeles to take you two on a romantic weekend getaway.” Esme continued.

“Your luggage is packed and your itinerary made.”

“We hope you two have a lot of fun and remember that we’re doing this because we love you.”

Rose and I looked at each other smiled and chuckled. We both knew why they were doing this. I made a few quick calls and hugged Esme and Alice.

“Thanks mom, thank you sister. I love you guys too.”

Rose hugged and thanked them too. Pretty quickly we set off for the airport in Port Angeles in Rose’s car. We’d find out where we were headed once in the air. I held Rose’s hand as she drove.


	18. optional smut chapter, feel free to skip if smut isnt your thing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Bella get to know each other intimately during their weekend getaway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, like the chapter title suggests, this chapter is basically a smut chapter, I've done my best to write it so that you can skip straight to the next chapter if smut isn't your thing. Next chapter should be up soon.

**Chapter 18**

**Can I have you for breakfast in bed today?**

When we arrived at the airport a small jet was waiting for us. As soon as we got in we found out our destination, Billings, Montana.

“We have a vacation property outside the city.”

“Did we just get evicted?”

“I think we did.” Rosa laughed.

We sat on the love seat in the small jet making out for the short duration of the flight. When landed, the plane taxied to a hanger. The pilot informed us he would remain in Billings until needed and gave us his card with his phone number. When we wanted to leave, we only had to call him and he’d get the plane ready in an hour. The planes door opened and a man came in to retrieve our luggage. When we got out of the plane there was a car waiting in the hangar, a Mercedes S class amg coupe. The man who unloaded our luggage held out the key after putting the cases into the trunk. Rose said that I should drive. We followed the road along the hangars that led to the private gate of the airport available only to people who fly in private/chartered jets. Putting my foot down we quickly got to the gate of the vacation property, Rose had been giving excellent directions. Rose pushed one of the cars buttons to open the gate. I drove through and kept driving, after several miles we came up to a grand log and brick work cabin, it had a very rustic feel to it. No doubt one of Esme’s designs given it could be on the front page of any design magazine. I parked the car in the detached garage next to a few other vehicles, where a man was waiting for us. He popped open the trunk as we got out and retrieved our suitcases. Rose looked a little weary at the man.

“Normally there’s nobody here, especially not any humans.” She whispered low enough that he couldn’t hear.

“There will probably be an explanation for it.” I whispered back.

“Welcome to the Wild Mustang ranch. The owners have requested me to welcome you after preparing the main house for your stay. I have your itinerary’s handy along with my phone number in case you wish to make any changes or extend your stay or if you need anything in general. When I’m present I will act as your personal butler. I hope you enjoy your stay.” The butler said after carrying our luggage and leading us inside.

We thanked him and took our itinerary’s. It wasn’t too much, Esme was clearly worried I wouldn’t be eating so there were going to be chefs coming to cook. And optional activities if we wanted, we only had to call the numbers. The chef for todays lunch was already at work in the kitchen so the butler brought us over to the dining room and got us started with a bottle of champagne and brought us one appetizer after another. They all centered around blood sausage, which made Rose happy. The main was perfectly cooked duck with a sweet tasting gravy, the look in Roses eyes told me enough to know that the gravy contained blood. Finally there was a small desert to finish the lunch. The chef and the butler excused themselves.

After lunch we went to the room Rose normally stayed in, to her surprise it wasn’t ready.

“Master bedroom?” I asked.

“Worth a shot.”

She led us to the master bedroom, as soon as we opened the double doors we couldn’t believe our eyes, the fireplace was lit, rose petals spread throughout and candles in all the right places to make it even more romantic. I snapped out of it when I got a text. It was from Alice of course.

***The hot tub is filled for you two. I’ll refrain from checking in on your futures, to give you privacy and protect myself. Have fun.***

“Well it seems I’ve been informed of where we should start.”

“Oh where is that?” Rose asked kind of confused

“Depends where the hot tub is.”

Rose pulled me to the bathroom where in the center there was a large indoor hot tub. In between kissing we started getting undressed. Out of habit we still had our underwear on. Rose was about to get in when I realized what we were here for. In Rose’s view I unclasped my bra and took it off. Rose was staring at my boobs, I went to her taking in the view of her gorgeous body and slipped off my boyshorts as well.

“We don’t need to hide from each other anymore, no limits right.”

Rose cupped my face and kissed me as I undid her bra, I love how it felt having our bodies this close, She let go of my face and slipped down her panties and threw her bra aside. We quickly got into the hot tub. The water was hot enough that it would bother a normal human, but for us it wasn’t a problem. We got close together and started kissing. Not afraid to explore each others bodies, wherever this would lead we were both fine with it, no need to hold back. I cupped Rose’s face and stimulated the nape of her neck as we opened our mouths to let our tongues play, I felt Rose going immediately for my thighs. I moved so I was completely on top, our legs interlocked. I lowered one of my hands to her left thigh and slowly made my way back up along her ribs and cupped the bottom of her left breast, a move rose clearly liked she let go of the kiss to let out a moan.

“Oh Bella.”

I took advantage of my mouth being free and started kissing her face moving towards her right ear and gave her ear lobe a nibble. By now I had both hands on her boobs and played with them, I kissed my way down to her throat and bit her throat a little causing Rose to moan even more. By now Rose was like putty in my hands. Her back arched and I backed off a little to tease her. Rose pulled me back to her body and kissed me again moving her hands straight back to my ass, when I managed to break free from the kiss I asked.

“Shall we move this to the bedroom?”

Rose was barely able to nod, she was so on edge. We got out and toweled each other off using our superspeed. While kissing we made our way to the bedroom, tripping over ourselves we ended up on the floor causing both of us to chuckle while we got up again. We were kissing in front of the bed and I lifted Rose up and let her fall on the bed. I climbed on top of her making sure my left thigh was touching her pussy. I started kissing her again and ever so slightly started moving my left thigh gently against Roses pussy causing her to moan and say my name again.

“You’re so beautiful darling.”

My mouth started making it’s way down, soon I was kissing her boobs and started sucking on a nipple. My left hand made it’s way down to her pussy and I gently cupped her pussy, her arousal rapidly became obvious.

“You’re so wet Rose.”

I gently started playing with two fingers barely going into her wet pussy thumb on her clitoral hood. It was driving Rose insane, every time I looked up her eyes were begging for more in between her moans. I slid my fingers gently further into her pussy and rubbed her clitoral hood with my thumb. Once in fully I arched my 2 fingers upwards and started stimulating her g spot. Rose was well excited by now and started breathing more heavily. I played with her left nipple using my mouth and used my right hand to play with her right boob. Rose was reaching her climax and soon she moaned louder saying my name and begging me for more. Her voice became faint as she started breathing heavier and more rapid. Her back started to arch and the pressure had become too much for her to contain anymore and she orgasmed, I looked up while fondling with her boobs and she had a look of pleasure on her face as waves of pleasure went through her. I slowed down my left hand and let her catch her breath.

“OMG Bella! That was amazing.” Said rose while panting.

I took it as my signal that she was ready for more.

“Let’s try something different.” I said to the surprised Rose that thought that was it.

I started going faster with my left hand again and kissed my way to her pussy. I opened Rose’s legs and I kissed the inside of her thighs before I replaced my left thumb with my mouth, Roses arousal was obvious and her clit demanded attention, I started playing with it with my tongue, sucking on it and gently nibbling on it. I regularly made eye contact with her. It didn’t take long for Rose to start breathing heavily again, her moaning increased her back arched and she screamed out my name. I stopped what I was doing and got back face to face, it was only then that I realized my own arousal had been dripping out, I had been to focused on my gorgeous imprint to notice. Rose was still panting and I let her catch her breath.

“How was it darling?”

“That was – OMG – amazing.”

I kissed Rose again, she was eager to get her arousal into her mouth. But soon she broke off the kiss and gave me a sheepish look.

“Bella, I have never done this before with a girl.”

“Relax, you have masturbated right?”

She nodded.

“And you just experienced what I did to you.”

She nodded again.

“Well I’m horny as hell so you don’t need to do much foreplay, a little teasing and fingering will go a long way for now, just pay attention to my body language, if you do something I don’t like you’ll notice, if I do like it you’ll notice it too. The trick is to know when you got to keep doing exactly what you’re doing. So relax darling, you’ll do great.”

We started kissing again and I let rose take the lead. it didn’t take long before our positions were reversed, I let out a moan when Rose started playing with my nipples. She kissed her way down to my boobs and moved a hand to on of my inner thighs.

“Rose, mmmm” I moaned

While playing with my erect nipples with her tongue she started stroking the outside of my wet pussy. I started breathing a little faster. Rose switched hands and brought her fingers already coated with my wetness up to my mouth to give me a taste. She inserted a finger with ease.

“No less than 2 babe.” I corrected her.

Rose added a finger and also started playing with my clit. I had my first orgasm not long after she had started stimulating my g spot, going in and out with her fingers.

“Rose I’m gonna come!” I yelled out just before I orgasmed, waves of pleasure went through me. I panted heavily, I had dreamed off this goddess doing this to me.

Though she was unsure about how she’d do, I encouraged her to go further south with her mouth once I was panting a little less. I felt my pussy pulsing and I wanted more. Rose teased me as she made her way down, making me even hornier and hungrier for more. Rose swung one of my legs over her shoulder so she’d have better access and started working my clit with her mouth. My hands first gripped the sheets but as she kept going my hands moved to her head and in between breaths I started saying her name.

“Rose.”

“Oh Rose.”

“Yes”

Before long I had a second orgasm, sending even stronger waves of pleasure through me and I was panting heavily. I let my hands go, and laid flat on the bed recovering. Rose came back up and cuddled my side resting her head in my neck. We both were covered in bodily fluids and the room was filled with the musky scent from our arousal.

“Rose?”

“Yeah.”

“I love you, that was great.”

“I love you too and it was.”

I turned my head enough to plant a kiss on her head. I was trying to fight the urge but as often after an orgasm I found myself in need of a cigarette. I told Rose and she pulled my up to the balcony bringing a sheet and I brought my cigarettes. We sat down in the same chair wrapped in the sheet with Rose on my lap while I smoked. We stayed out there for a while. When there was a knock on the door we went back inside. I wrapped the sheet around me and went to crack the door. It was the butler to notify us that dinner would be served soon. I told him we’d be down in a bit.

“Quick shower darling?”

We showered and once dried off went to the bedroom to grab our suitcases so we could get a change of clothes. to our surprise there were several brand new sex toys in the suit cases, Alice’s work no doubt and we both had to laugh.

“Bella I think this weekend will be fun and full of firsts.”

“I have to agree.”

Alice had packed only our sexiest lingerie and dresses. We didn’t mind, dresses were quick to come off. We both put on somewhat casual dresses and went downstairs, our heels stayed in the room.

“I hope that chef cooked enough to feed an army.” Is said when walking down the stairs accompanied by my stomach rumbling. I was also super thirsty, I’d have to remember to bring up water with me. Fortunately dinner was plentiful, The butler started us off with a glass of champagne, but afterwards I asked for sparkling water, my tolerance for alcohol had become high again but I didn’t want to hydrate with water. Once we had finished dinner I asked for a water bottle for upstairs. I had eaten a lot and Rose was aware of it, so as we made our way back upstairs she suggested a movie. The room had been cleaned up while we had dinner. I had to admit I was somewhat embarrassed at first, but I realized we had put the sex toys away before we went downstairs. I went to use the facilities while Rose picked the movie. We settled under a quilt in the private living room.

“What did you pick?”

“Operation petticoat. It’s a comedy with some romance thrown in set in WWII it stars Cary grant and Tony Lee Curtis.”

“Cary grant is good.” I replied thinking of the vintage movie education Rose had been giving me the past months.

And she had picked another winner, we had already started teasing each other and kissing halfway through the movie. Soon we found ourselves back on the bed cuddling.

“Rose, what kind of wild game is there for you in this area?”

“Lots of choice, moose, deer, mountain goats, bears, elk, there’s also predators like mountain lions and wolves but I don’t hunt the latter anymore I figured it would be somewhat sensitive. Why are you asking?”

“I appreciate that I think. So when I’m asleep I want you to sneak out for a hunting trip, I don’t want you to be thirsty and I can see it in your eyes that you could use a thirst quencher, they have darkened considerably.”

“Bella I can handle being thirsty.”

“Darling, you don’t have to, I’ll be asleep anyway. And I want you to go. Do it for me please.

“Ok but I’ll stay close by, I won’t be gone long.”

“That’s fine, as long as you know I expect to look into butterscotch eyes tomorrow morning.”

Glad that Rose gave in I kissed her, it didn’t take too long before we were both aroused to the point where we wanted more. Neither of us had any experience with sex toys, so we started with a small vibrator, it certainly was a new experience for both of us and we teased each other endlessly, in the end Rose had noticed how hard I was fighting against falling asleep and she pulled me into her arms and covered our naked bodies with the bed covers.

“Time for some sleep Bella.” She said and planted a kiss on my forehead.

“I’m not tired.” I slurred out.

“If you want me to go to hunt then you got to go to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up tomorrow. Or today rather.”

“Promise you’ll be here? I still believe you’re not real. That you’re an angel that will soon return to heaven.” I slurred out.

“I promise and I assure you I’m real, you wont get rid of me that easily. I love you Bella, sweet dreams.”

“I love you too.”

Between the exhaustion, Roses embrace and her comforting scent I fell asleep quickly with a smile on my face, today had been the best day of my life without a doubt. I had nothing but peaceful dreams that night, when I woke up I found my most favourite butterscotch eyes staring at me, Rose was purring.

“Good morning darling.” I said and kissed her.

A little later, Rose broke off the kiss and handed me the half empty water bottle. Since my mouth was pretty dry I gladly took it and swigged it down. We fooled around a little but my stomach betrayed me again and let out a loud rumble.

“Come on!” I said to my stomach causing Rose to laugh.

“It’s almost 8 AM so breakfast will be served shortly.” Rose said.

We quickly showered and went downstairs, breakfast was indeed almost ready, I had requested a more typical American breakfast after all the fancy food we had yesterday. The Butler served us coffee. Soon breakfast was served, we had eggs benedict, French toast, blueberry pancakes and fruit smoothies. Unlike at home I had to ask for an extra plate, the butler promptly brought it and I poured maple syrup on the plate and transferred one of my blueberry pancakes to it.

“In all my years I have never seen anyone ever do that. Why do you always eat your pancakes with the syrup on the bottom?” Rose asked.

“You get a nice even coating on the bottom of your pancake instead of syrup slopping about on top. This is the best way to eat them.”

Once we finished our large breakfast we went for a walk outside, more for my benefit since I ate a lot again.

“Hey when do you want to go back?” I asked.

“We have school tomorrow.” Rose sighed.

“I know a doctor that would be willing to excuse us from school. Come on, we’ll go out tonight for dinner and go to a bar with live music.”

“Keeping up appearances is important Bella.” Rose said.

Rose got a text.

“It’s Esme, she says they are going to excuse us from school tomorrow but there’s visitors coming so we have to be back around dinner time tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Visitors of your kind I assume?”

“Most likely, Don’t worry Carlisle wont let them hunt in the area.”

“They’ll hunt somewhere Rose.”

“If it becomes too much for you we can go stay in Port Angeles till they are gone.”

“Or the rez, pretty sure Emily would let us crash in her spare room. She likes you, you know.”

“We’ll see, it’s still uncomfortable for me to be there.

Before long we found ourselves back in the room, making out, Rose had taken it upon her to tease me endlessly. I was so incredibly horny by lunchtime that my fangs suddenly extended. I gave Rose a bite in her neck, the razor sharp fangs easily penetrated her skin. It turned Rose on so much that she tore the dress I had on me to pieces. When I let go of her throat I saw her own fangs were extended. I had soon torn off her dress, it was a good thing, that unlike the rest of the pack, I was truly immune to venom cause I got several bites myself, it would only take a couple of days for the scars to fade away. But not once did Rose start sucking my blood as soon as her fangs left my skin it rapidly closed up again leaving bright puncture scars. The sex was wild and rough. In no time we had each reached multiple orgasms. Panting we fell into each other’s arms. Shortly after the butler knocked on the door to inform us lunch was about to be served. We informed him we’d be down in 15 minutes. We went to the shower, I did have some blood on me along with other bodily fluids. We jumped into the shower.

“You know this is your fault, right darling?”

“You bit me first.” Rose defended herself

“You teased me so much that my fangs came out, I lost control Rose.”

“But it was fun wasn’t it? Could be a thing for once in a while.” She teased me again.

We got dressed and went downstairs for lunch and informed the butler of our plans for the night and that we’d stay until Monday afternoon. After lunch we went back to the room, though I’d never used one before I had been eager to try out a strap-on on Rose. We cuddled on the sofa and soon were making out again.

“You’re never gonna get tired of this are you?” Rose teased me.

“Of course not, but I’m also trying to make the most out of this weekend. We wont always have this much time for each other you know.”

Rose couldn’t argue with my logic and soon we were back to making out, I teased her without mercy. When she got to the point that she could barely take any more I made a suggestion.

“Wanna try out a strap on?” I asked with a naughty look on my face.

“You want to fuck me, Bella?” Rose asked while giggling.

She pushed me off and quickly led us to the bedroom, we helped each other out of our dresses and underwear. I put on the harness and threw Rose on the bed. Once I made sure it was firmly attached, I got in between Roses legs. Firmly I grabbed her by her hips and lifted her up a little, her arousal was dripping out so I gently started inserting the dildo, regularly checking with Rose to see if she was ok. I slowly started going back and forth using my hips, Rose was loving it, every thrust was making it harder for her to say my name, or even beg me to go faster. I kept going faster, using the length of the dildo, I kept my pace when I felt Rose was about to come, when she did, he body was shaking with waves of pleasure. I lifted her up off the bed and sat down with her still on the dildo. Shimming my way on the bed enough so that my head would be on the pillows.

When I laid down Rose had gotten the message and she started riding the dildo while I played with her boobs and slapped her ass cheeks a little. After her second orgasm she laid down on top of me, we started kissing and I switched our positions again. I helped her to another orgasm quickly in missionary, the strap on had been rubbing against my clit the whole time so my own breath was labored, Rose reached for my clit and started playing with it, the timing had been right and when she had her third orgasm I shortly orgasmed afterwards. I rested on Rose’s body and kissed her when she suddenly broke it off.

“Take it off and sit on my face.”

I quickly complied and Rose brought me to two more orgasms in rapid succession. I fell asleep when we were cuddling afterwards. Rose woke me up.

“We should get ready for tonight. Did you have a nice nap?”

“Sorry I fell asleep, I was worn out.” Causing Rose to laugh.

“Don’t be silly Bella, it wears me out too and I don’t need sleep.” She replied and kissed me.

We took our time getting ready starting with a shower after I had a cigarette on the balcony, fortunately both our 22 year old ID’s were in the suitcases. Alice had packed us both lace dresses that matched with our heels. We put on some minimal make up and went downstairs. Ready to go out into the city. We got into the Mercedes s class amg coupe and quickly were at the restaurant for dinner. It was romantic, afterwards we walked to the bar which was nearby hand in hand. Smiles on our faces whenever we passed some of the older people in Billings. We soon got to the bar, the guy at the door didn’t even ask for our ID’s. Rose would drive on the way back so I got an old fashioned and pretty soon we joined the dancing, we had the eyes of all the guys in there on us. I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit it felt good that my girl was getting this much attention, provided they don’t start anything or insult her with cheesy remarks. After hours of dancing and a couple of drinks we decided to head back to the lodge. While walking to our car we got catcalled by two guys walking behind us, it made me angry because despite being a vampire it still sent Rose on edge giving the time of day and setting.

“Hey you two sexy ladies should come have some fun with us tonight, we’ll show you some moves” one of them said in a very insistent tone.

I knew Rose just wanted to keep walking but I let go of her hand, turned around to see one of them smiling and the other licking his lips. I put my best fake smile on my face and walked up to the smiling one, who due to my hearing was most likely the one that had talked.

“Bella, forget it. Let’s just go.” Rose whispered.

When I was in front of the one that I suspected had talked I said “Well sugar, we ain’t from around here, but I’d like to find out what passes for fun around her” while I let my hand go down the outside of his pants. As his smile grew bigger and bigger my hand was in position and I grabbed his male parts hard, barely able to contain my strength.

“This is fun, darling why don’t you try it on the other one.” I said while crushing the catcallers male parts. The one that had been licking his lips ran away in fear while the other screamed it out and fell to the ground. I pressed my heel on his throat. “You don’t talk to ladies like that and definitely don’t be a creep under such circumstances, you’re lucky I’m letting you live. Get out of here.” I said before letting him go.

I returned to Rose and grabbed her hand and we started walking again.

“I can’t believe you did that. Bella we should’ve just kept walking.”

“No Rose, we both know men like this, I wont stand bye letting them insult my queen.”

“So I’m your queen now? And Bella it really wasn’t necessary to do that.”

“You always have been my queen. Sorry but I felt that it was necessary, they deserved punishment, I only regret that I only directly punished one of them. I hope they’ll think twice before approaching other women in such a disgusting way again.”

Once we got into the car, Rose driving, we debated it further and agreed to disagree, I could see Rose’s point about a low profile and that we need to keep a low profile and she agreed that they did deserve punishment. We were home soon and I was in a good mood again, I had succeeded in convincing Rose to pick a movie. I was familiar with Rose’s music collection by now so I had taken a guess at one of her guilty pleasure movies. We settled on the couch and I put on the correct streaming service and selected Mamma Mia.

“How did you know?!” Rose asked in amazement.

“You could call it an educated guess, I’ve gotten to know you really well after all. We’re going to sing along right?”

“Is not singing along even possible?”

It was without a doubt one of the best movie watching experiences with rose, we both sang along the entire time. I loved seeing this side of Rose. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after we had sex again. Monday morning started off slow, we both constantly had it in the back of our head that we were going home today. Didn’t stop us from having a great morning filled with experimenting with each other again. We enjoyed our last lunch here, when we were packing up I had a question on my mind.

“Rose am I mistaken or do you actually enjoy the food?”

“Well it tastes good but 99% of it is the company. I know there’s some things you can’t do without, food and sleep so I enjoy participating in both, I’ve been doing a couple hours of our pseudo sleep when you sleep for a while now. The slow beat of your heart is very soothing and your scent relaxes me.”

I went over to hug her. “Just don’t forget about your own needs darling. And you forgot the third thing I can’t do without. You.”

“I love you Bella and I can’t imagine life without you anymore. I’m not the person I used to be anymore because of you. And my heart feels like it’s going to start beating again all the time. Even when we’re separate you make me feel warm inside. I don’t feel dead anymore, you make me feel alive.”

“I love you too Rose, I look forward to forever with you. You make me feel whole, you’ve always been the missing piece, my only regret is that you had to wait so long, but I’m glad you did.”

We embraced each other a little longer till the alarm Rose had set went off. We had to leave, we’d both be liars if we wouldn’t admit that we’d miss this place. I’d have to find a way to properly thank Alice and Esme, Alice would be easy probably, agree to go shopping with her. Esme would always be happy with a hug and a thank you but I had to find something better.

I checked all my unread messages while underway, I was good at ignoring my phone when I didn’t want to be disturbed. The pack group chat had been on fire, lot’s of teasing in there about my getaway with Rose. A few from Sarah and Jake, one from Charlie hoping we’d have fun and lastly a couple from kids from school wondering if I was ok given my absence from school today, Angela being the first to have texted of course. I’d wait until we were home to text them back. Though Jake’s one of Jake’s text contained a reliable lead he found on a 67 chevy Impala, would definitely have to go see that one, If the shape is OK I’d buy it for Rose. In the airport hanger our baggage was unloaded, Rose and I were wearing our last clean undamaged dresses. A shopping trip would’ve been necessary if we’d have stayed any longer. Soon we were in the air on the way back to Port Angeles, Rose had cuddled into my lap with a book, I read along with her, something most people would find annoying but Rose didn’t mind. Time often seems to pass way too quickly when I’m in total bliss with Rose and the pilot announced we’d be landing, for the sake of appearances we buckled up. Once landed we put our luggage in Roses M3. On the drive back home, I hijacked Rose’s cars Bluetooth and started playing Abba songs. I switched to the rolling stones halfway home playing some of Rose’s favourites. Rose parked next to my Nissan in the garage. We got out and I sniffed, unfamiliar smells so far, so the visitors must be here, the scents were strange, they didn’t smell good but didn’t smell great either, my nose wrinkled somewhat and slightly burned. As we carried our suitcases to the door it opened and Alice sped into the garage.

“So did you guys get some things out of your system? Did you have fun?”

I scooped up Alice and carried her over one of my shoulders, to Roses amusement.

“Tiny you’re an absolute total shameless pervert, you’re lucky that you’re my sister and that I love you. We had loads of fun and the rest is none of your business. But you do deserve a reward, You can take me on a 3 hour shopping trip.” I said as we walked inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now i need a cigarette.


	19. Bad smell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi gang, there's a short recap of sorts for those who chose to skip the smut chapter, I'm definitely building up to the fight against Victoria, i'll do my best to turn the intrigue up a notch again in the next chapter. Thank you all for reading. Enjoy.

**Chapter 19**

**Hands up if you’re ready to do something you’ll regret this weekend.  
Go forth! You have my blessing.**

On the drive back home from our weekend getaway I hijacked Rose's cars Bluetooth and started playing Abba songs. I switched to the rolling stones halfway home, playing some of Rose's favorites. Rose parked next to my Nissan in the garage. We got out and I sniffed, unfamiliar smells so far, so the visitors must be here, the scents were strange, they didn't smell good but didn't smell great either, my nose wrinkled somewhat and slightly burned. As we carried our suitcases to the door it opened and Alice sped into the garage.

"So did you guys get some things out of your system? Did you have fun?"

I scooped up Alice and carried her over one of my shoulders, to Roses amusement.

"Tiny you're an absolute total shameless pervert, you're lucky that you're my sister and that I love you. We had loads of fun and the rest is none of your business. But you do deserve a reward, You can take me on a 3 hour shopping trip." I said as we walked inside.

Alice had been protesting the way she was being carried at first but as I kept speaking she softened and when she heard shopping she was immediately enthusiastic. I set her down in the living room, Jazz found it amusing that I carried her but I also saw he was concerned for his mate. When Emmett had seen us he shot off into his famous bouldering laugh. Esme came out of the kitchen to welcome us, I had started noticing unfamiliar scents, and 5 vampires followed her out of the kitchen. I was a little defensive at first and moved somewhat in front of Rose, until I noticed that the 5 vampires had golden eyes which made me somewhat at ease. 3 out of the 5 were blondes and would be considered beautiful if it wasn't for Rose. The other two gave off a latin vibe, while pale there was a olive tone to their skin. Esme came over and hugged us both to welcome us home. she was about to introduce the visitors when she noticed the fading scars on my throat.

"Rose you bit Bella." Esme chided Rose

"She started it." Rose defended herself

"Ok I have fangs too and she drove me crazy, you wouldn't believe the things she did to me, it's her fault really mom." I said innocently causing Rose to shoot me a glare.

The conversation had caused the 5 visitors to look at me curiously.

"We'll talk about this later." Esme said while looking into Roses eyes. She wouldn't find a speck of red in her butterscotch eyes though.

She introduced the visitors to us. "Tanya, Kate, Irena, Carmen and Eleazar, meet the newest addition to our family, my daughter Bella who is Roses mate." Whenever Esme said a name the visitors greeted me in return.

"We consider them our extended family, to both our knowledge the Denali coven are the only other vegetarian vampires."

I'd swear the 3 blondes were nearly drooling over me, Eleazar looked at me curiously. When Rose noticed the 3 blondes were taking me in she let out a low hiss.

"Relax Rose, we're just window shopping and we're surprised, you got yourself a hot one." Tanya the strawberry blonde hair spoke up.

"No wonder none of us ever stood a chance with you, when you were waiting for someone as hot as you are." Kate said. Causing me to blush even more.

"And a gifted one, I have to add. You didn't mention your new daughter was a shield, Esme. Not to mention her other gifts." Eleazar said.

My focus snapped to him.

"What do you mean a shield?"

"Let me start by introducing myself, I'm Eleazar and I too have a gift, mine is sensing other vampires gifts, I can also sense gifts in humans but it is more limited. You have a shield gift, it protects against mental attacks and your shield is very strong, I have never come across one as strong as yours."

"Bella that's why neither Edward or Aro could read your mind. And why Jane and Alec gifts didn't work on you either." Rose explained even further

"You had a run in with the Volturi?!" Eleazar asked with a shocked look on his face.

"Edward had told the Volturi that we had taken up with werewolves. Bella went to Italy in the hopes of convincing them otherwise or worst case hoped they'd be satisfied with just her." Rose answered coldly.

"I have never met anyone brave enough to go see the Volturi under such circumstances. Given you are all still here allow me to condolence you on your loss of Edward." Tanya the strawberry blonde said.

"What loss? I exiled him to Siberia. Edward is very much alive as far as we are aware." I cut in.

"You convinced the brothers to not kill him? But he gave a false testimony against you and your family." Carmen spoke up.

"Aro could see the logic in my reasoning of me being the sole damaged party, the Volturi had not yet been expending any energy on it. So they agreed that I would give him judgment, I did not see letting him go would go over well though, the wilderness of Siberia is vast, desolate but with plenty of wildlife, I still believe it to be a good place for Edward to contemplate all he has done. We didn't get off on the right foot, I have my share of blame in it. But him being executed would've hurt mom and Carlisle too much." I explained

We mingled for a bit in the kitchen while Esme cooked dinner. Eleazar was very curious about me.

"Bella if you don't mind me asking, what are you exactly?"

"I would say that human, vampire, shape shifter, spirit warrior hybrid comes the closest. My story is long but the short of it is that I was born with my peoples magic in my blood, for us vampires are our natural enemy, when I was twelve I was attacked by a sadistic vampire who bit me all over, he enjoyed watching me in pain and got off on it. After having endured that grueling torture for I don't know how long an ancient spirit, a great chief of my people and the last spirit warrior reached out to me and offered his help if I made a little room for him. When he joined my spirit my magic instantly activated, he had control of my body then, he made me phase and destroyed the vampire who was in shock briefly enough for a successful surprise attack, after burning the pieces outside he gave me control again, he found that he was unable to leave my body, our spirits had started merging. When my magic was activated it had neutralized the venom that my body was flooded with, it did however leave me as a partial vampire, I have the same speed and strength as vampires, tougher skin, faster healing that the rest of my pack and I've already technically died once, yet I was able to continue breathing with little blood in my system and my heart not beating, fortunately it told Carlisle all he needed to know so he started working again. Though it's not needed for me since I have no thirst or appetite for it I can feed on blood, it makes me stronger. In a admitting, unnecessary move to protect rose I took down a mountain lion and drained it, I was stronger than Emmett for a short time."

"Extraordinary, you are truly one of a kind. Aro must have seen something in you even without his gift that he managed to convince Caius."

"Well I'd believe it really was Marcus, once Carlisle and Rose had arrived he saw the bond between Rose and me, it was explained to me that he sees the bonds between people and had never before seen a mate bond this strong. I also phased on the fly when Jane used her gift on Rose and nearly took her head off, only stopping when Rose told me too. From what Carlisle explained werewolves aren't able to phase whenever they want and don't look like actual wolves, let alone be in control of themselves while phased. Aro wasn't happy with Jane, that was obvious."

"Have you ever tried to develop your shield gift? Protecting others for example."

"I can protect my pack when I connect with them."

"Are you interested in a little experiment?"

"Sure."

He called for Kate who laid a hand on me. Rose was hissing the entire time.

"She should be flat on her ass."

"Can you open a connection to members that don't belong to your pack?"

"I have done it once to Rose."

"Take it outside, I wont have you destroy the kitchen if Rose gets hurt!" Esme ordered

Once the 4 of us were outside I focused on Rose and connected to her, I could hear her doubts about this. ' _Don't worry Rose, it will be ok'_ I thought and she thought that she trusted me which made my heart flutter, I nodded to Kate that we were ready. My fists balled when Kate got close to Rose and I started tremoring. But when she touched Rose nothing happened to my relief and to the surprise of everybody else.

"This might be handy in the time that is approaching, I'm afraid we aren't paying a social visit. There will be a meeting after dinner when Carlisle gets home from the hospital." Eleazar said

We went back inside and soon dinner was ready, the food in the lodge had been great every time but I really loved Esme's food and she always made a big batch which was a lot easier to fill up with. When I was done eating Carlisle arrived and after saying his hello's we all assembled in the dining room so we could hear why the Denali's were visiting. Tanya who clearly was the coven leader spoke up first.

"We are visiting to offer our help, months ago a vampire you are familiar with came to live with us, his name is Laurent. He and Irena had something going and he appeared interested in trying our way of life, he struggled but that is not uncommon. When he told Irena he'd be gone for some time she found out why, he's going to help an old friend of his who is assembling an army. When she found out that the army is being moved against you, we decided to come and help. I'm sorry we couldn't warn you sooner but we have only just found out."

"We know about the army, the vampire he's with is called Victoria, she's after my sister Sarah who for a short time had a thing going with Edward. If it's alright with Carlisle I'd gladly accept your help under some conditions." I responded causing a surprised look on their faces.

"I don't like it but what other choice do we have, even if we'd all leave, we would just leave the area at the mercy of a newborn army and there's no guarantee that the army wont track us." Carlisle sighed.

"Tanya I am the Alpha of the wolfpack, which makes me the de facto chief of the tribe. We have a alliance with the Cullen family, they have proven themselves to be good friends to the tribe and we train together. This area is under my protection, given I can clearly see what diet your coven follows I bear you no ill will, I'm willing to reach out my hand in friendship but you must accept some restrictions. Above all else you're not to set foot on tribal lands, there can be exceptions to this but that is to be discussed beforehand and under no circumstances is your coven to bite a human. Those were the conditions of the old treaty Carlisle had discussed with the Alpha of the pack nearly a century ago. To us, vampires are our natural enemy, we are born to fight them, but we are not savage beasts and we can live with more civilized vampires. But until we know you better I cannot let your coven into our alliance. I hope you can understand that." I said in my authoritarian tone.

The Denali coven nodded at each other.

"We can accept those conditions, we just wish to help the Cullens."

We couldn't chat much longer as I had a patrol to run and several of the family and visitors wanted to go hunting. As soon as I had phased in the forest just outside the house I let out my Alpha howl. As soon as enough pack member had joined I put a stop to the joking about the weekend getaway Rose and me had just had. I informed them of the recent development and the friendly vampires that were in the area and the conditions that applied to them. As I dismissed the wolves that weren't on duty I found Rose next to me in outdoorsy attire. I opened a link with her.

"I'm coming with you."

"Rose –"

"No I'm coming with you."

"Oh Bella let her come, she can take care of herself you overprotective lunatic." Paul said.

"Fine, but you'll have to deal with Paul being in your head too."

Paul chuckled and we set off on our meeting point, I warned Rose we had a long patrol ahead of us and that if we came across a snack for her she should go for it. We did several routes. A little later we were joined by Sam, Leah, Colin and Brady. Sam and Leah had taken it up on them to train and patrol La Push with our puppies. Of course they wanted to come with the rest of us but that was out of the question. Halfway through our patrol Rose had come across a herd of deer, she took down one with ease. Paul found it impressive. Rose had at first found it a little overwhelming to hear so many peoples thoughts, in my wolf form if I opened a link it also included whoever was currently in their wolf form, but she had taken to it with easy. We patrolled widely the outskirts of our regular area and came across nothing, the three of us headed back. Paul split off of us when we got near the Cullen mansion. As Rose and I stopped in the forest outside she patted my big wolf head and I rubbed my head against her causing her to laugh. I phased in front of her and stood in my human form as naked as the day as I was born aside from the clothes tied to my leg.

"Do you like what you see?" I asked her with a naughty look.

"You know our rooms are pretty soundproof."

"Let's go put that to the test." I said and gave her a shit eating grin.

I quickly threw on my wolf clothes and we ran inside collecting our luggage that was still downstairs and headed to my room. After an hour of wild sex we quickly showered and we went downstairs to make a couple of sandwiches for me and I drink a bottle of Gatorade. The family and visitors assembled in the living room gave us looks.

"Too much?" I asked.

"You two are impossible. You could have given some warning" Alice sighed.

I laughed as we went back upstairs. I felt like I was in heaven with the most beautiful goddess in the crook of my arm as I fell asleep. Rose kept my nightmares at bay again and dominated my dreams. I was happy to wake up in the morning, Rose in reality was always better than Rose in my dreams.

"Good morning Darling. You did it again." I said and gave her a smile

"Good morning. Did what?"

"You kept the bad dreams away again, I sleep like back when I was a little girl when you're with me. Come on let's get ready for school. Esme will have our asses if we're late." I said and gave her a kiss. We quickly showered and it would be a overcast but dry day so I informed Rose I'd be going to school on my motorcycle, something she was strangely thrilled about. When we met up in the hallway I found out why, Rose was dressed in leather just like I was.

"I'm coming with you to school she announced."

I moaned looking at her leather clad body.

"I take that as a yes." She said and grabbed my hand to lead me downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

"It's a good thing you both are near indestructible otherwise I'd be worried all day." Esme sighed as she served me a tall stack of pancakes with a spare plate for the syrup and a large plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"I promise I'll keep her safe mom." I said before I started wolfing down my breakfast. Me eating was something that seemed to attract our visitors from Denali. They claimed it was fascinating to see somebody eat that much, I had explained the wolf metabolism as best as I could. I shot Jake a text when I was done and reminded Rose I had to leave again after school on pack business which was a lie, Jake and I were going to go see the chevy impala he had tracked down, it was stashed in some guys barn and wasn't really for sale but I was good at convincing people and I'd be bringing cash, people liked seeing cash, money talks and bullshit walks after all. Rose and I went to the garage, I gave my bike a quick once over though Rose had only recently done work to it but habits die hard while rose opened the garage door behind the bike. I swapped out the seat cover for the passenger sear and flipped the pegs down for Rose.

"Ok darling, vampire or not, you don't get on or off till I tell you and when we lean into the corners you lean with me. I ride like a lunatic so you better trust me and hold on for dear life without crushing my ribs."

I started my bike and pushed her out the garage, put my gloves and helmet on and got on the bike. I signalled Rose to get on which she promptly did after pushing the garage door button. The rest of the family was just getting into Emmett's Jeep. I started riding to school, I was careful on the driveway but once on the highway I sped up rapidly, I loved how Rose was holding me, part of me wanted to ride by the school and just keep going but I pulled into the parking lot and stopped on one of the unofficial Cullen only spots. Once Rose got off after I gave her the ok, I parked the bike and got off myself. Rose had already taken of her helmet and let down her hair. I took mine off too. Out of habit I kissed Rose, only realizing that we weren't being hidden from sight by being in a car when it was already too late.

"Sorry, guess the wolf is out of the bag now."

"The only thing I mind is that you stopped kissing me that soon."

"Is that what you desire my queen? A longer kiss?"

"It's definitely one of the things I desire."

I leaned back in and kissed her again. we kissed until we got interrupted by Alice.

"Half the school is looking at you two."

"Well Tiny, I hope they like the show." I said before I leaned in again.

Finally Rose broke off our third kiss "We should head inside before we're late, I'm pretty sure they wont let us make out in detention."

"Speaking from experience?" I asked jokingly while we walked inside hand in hand.

The classes went by quickly, soon it was lunch, I was gonna sit with Rose today and would let her choose where we sat. Rose led us to my human friends table. We sat down and were soon joined by Sarah, Jake and Angela. the table kept getting more crowded. I had already downed a quarter of my lunch when we were 'blessed' with Lauren Mallory sitting down at the table.

"What are the dykes doing here?!" she shouted for the whole cafeteria to hear.

Rose knew pretty much everything that there was to know about me so she immediately laid a hand on my left arm, Jake and Sarah looked worried. Roses touch was helpful, it made my desire for physical punishment go away, but the desire for punishment in general remained. So I decided to speak up loudly enough for the whole cafeteria to hear.

"Come on Lauren calling us names is not cool, I get that you like being the school bitch but it's not fair to do this to us just because I refused to go out on a date with you months ago because you're not my type! Coming out would be healthy for you instead of calling others names to avoid suspicion! I'm sure you'd find somebody willing to experiment with you if you were just honest with yourself!" I said loudly enough for everybody to hear.

Lauren turned deep red and honestly, I couldn't tell if it was due to anger or not, part of me was afraid I just outed her for the whole school but most likely it was because everybody was looking at her. Jessica was mouthing 'you're gay?' at Lauren. Lauren got up and left the cafeteria and I went back to eating my lunch. The whole table Rose included was staring at me.

"What? Don't tell me she didn't have it coming to her. She wants to be the school bitch then she needs to bring her A game when the queen bitches sit at this table." I stated and went back to eating lunch.

Thank any and all deities for Angela's talent of starting up a conversation before silences became awkward.

Rose whispered low enough so that none of the humans sitting at the table could possibly hear "I'm proud of you for not assaulting her."

"I didn't want to disappoint you." I whispered back.

"Awwww" Sarah and Jake said low enough that nobody but us could hear.

We didn't see Lauren anymore during lunch. Classes went by quickly especially the classes I shared with Rose. Which had increased even more after I dropped the extra elective PE classes. After school I dropped off Rose at the house and quickly went in to change, I kissed my imprint goodbye and drove my car to Charlie's. Along the way I thought Tanya and Kate were a little jealous, apparently, they had both at various times tried to add Rose to their mountain of conquests, but she refused every time, still something lingered, Kate had said I was as beautiful as Rose, I had never considered myself beautiful, did she mean it or was it just a ploy? And why do the Denali's still have a somewhat foul smell to them? It didn't take me long to arrive at Charlie's, Jake had already hooked up the trailer to the behemoth and was wrenching on a car in the garage, he had taken over the business so to speak. I said hi to Sarah who was hanging out in the garage doing her homework, I had to admit I felt guilty separating the two of them even if it was only for a short amount of time. I put some stuff I had in the Nissan in the behemoth and Jake and I set off. It was just over 3 hours of driving there and back, we'd go see the car first and then have dinner. As soon as we set off it was obvious Jake hadn't been kidding about the upgrades he did to the behemoth, it was quicker. I connected my phone to the modern sound system Jake had installed for Sarah, she had started listening to music again recently and started blasting one of my hard rock heavy metal playlists. Halfway there Jake suddenly asked.

"So you and Blondie had a lot of fun this weekend banging each other."

"Jake first of all don't call her Blondie, second of all I understand that we don't voluntarily share our most intimate thoughts but we could make it easier for all of us by not actively talking about it and third who the hell still calls it that?"

"Fair enough."

"How are you and Sarah doing?"

"It's complicated, I think she likes me as much as I like her but I'm afraid to ask her out."

"Jake what's the worst that can happen? You two imprinted on each other for crying out loud. Y'all may as well get together instead of being bachelors your entire lives with playing with yourself being the hight of your sex life."

"You mean you wouldn't mind?"

"It means that I'm being supportive, but if you break her heart imprint or not I'll still break your neck. So don't ever break her heart, make her happy, you two together could make each other happy."

We rode the rest of the way in silence, Jake had a lot to contemplate. When we got to the place the old man was a little hesitant but eventually agreed that we could see the car, Jake got to work inspecting it while the old man told us why the car had been parked for so long, the engine was basically broken beyond repair. Rose could build a new engine so that wasn't a problem. Jake gave the verdict, the car itself was solid, the interior in decent shape but the undercarriage needed work. I made a low offer to the old man, a little back and forth and I ended getting the car for the price I wanted to pay, I paid in cash and we loaded the car. We stopped at a diner on the way back and then at a gas station, that's where I came across the idea for a gift for Esme, one of those cheesy world's best mom mugs, a gimmick but if accompanied by the right words it would be the best way to thank Esme, so I bought one. When we got on the Cullen drive we stopped to throw a car cover on the impala and throw on a bow tie. We stopped in front of the house. I quickly ran inside.

"Rose darling, I got something for you. Come on everybody come take a look."

Rose came out followed by the family and our visitors. I gestured to the obviously car shaped gift on the car trailer. Rose walked a little closer as I hopped on the trailer and started peeling off the cover.

"OMG Bella! Oh. You. How. I love you! Rose blabbered before hugging me.

"Glad you like it darling, I love you too. It needs some work but I'm sure you wont mind that. Come on let's go offload it in the workshop." I managed to get out before Rose pressed her lips on mine.

We heard the Denali sisters saying to each other that they were enjoying the show. Rose and I both gave Tanya and Kate a death glare for a couple of seconds. Till I turned my attention to the other person I had a gift for.

"I have another gift, one for you mom." I said to Esme after jumping off the trailer.

I quickly opened the passenger door to get the mug in it's plastic bag.

"I'm sorry that I didn't have the time to properly wrap it." I said as I gave it to Esme.

When she got the mug out of the plastic bag and saw what it said it put a smile to her face.

"Mom, I wanted to thank you for the weekend getaway you and Alice sent us on so I got you one of those Cheesy mugs. I just want you to know that I love you very much, you're the mom that everybody wants but nobody deserves. Rose has given me a reason to live, but you have given me a home." I said and gave Esme a hug.

"I love you too Bella, I'm glad you became my daughter."

"I'm glad you say that because I don't think you'll get rid of me."

"I'd never want to sweetheart. You'll always be my daughter, One day you'll realize how much you mean to all of us and how you have affected everyone in the family for the better."

I had been fighting them since I started talking to Esme but a few tears managed to escape and ran down my cheek. There were a bunch of awww's going around.

"I figured out your gift mom."

"Bella I don't have a gift."

"Yes you do, you're able to love passionately, your love radiates out of you, it's what makes you so warm and what makes us a family instead of a bunch of misfits banding together for convenience."

"I think she might be right." Carlisle said smiling at us.

Once adequately recovered and having prevented myself from turning into a blubbering mess again, I let go of Esme, so we could drop off the car in Rose's workshop. But not before Esme pulled my head down and gave me a kiss to the forehead.

"I made lasagne since I wasn't sure you'd have eaten enough on the road, does Jacob want to have dinner too?"

I quickly connected to Jake, he wanted to stay for dinner so I let Esme know he'd be staying. We dropped off the car in the spot rose wanted it to be in, Jake's eyes had nearly popped out from looking at all the cars in there. The lasagne Esme made was delicious, the large casserole hadn't stood a chance between Jake and I, Jake had also been wrinkling his nose the entire time he wasn't eating, we both apparently weren't fans of the scent the Denali's had and they weren't fans of his scent either. Another reason why we had difficulty trusting them. Jake left after dinner, I did my homework quickly with the help of Rose and went outside to do some training, I had been playing with the idea of feeding heavily on animal blood if we'd have enough time before the upcoming fight and lead my pack in human form knowing I'd be the strongest supernatural on the field of battle. Jazz was more than willing to teach me how to fight in my human form and he was a good teacher and I was a good student. Though Rose wasn't a fan, she hissed at Jazz several times when he had gotten the upper hand. Alice came out hissing when I had landed a right hook on Jazz that caused his face to crack. It took both of us and Jazz using his talent to convince them both that we were fine, it was just training. The rest of the evening was spent with Rose in the workshop before we went to bed. Wednesday was interesting at school, Lauren was absent. After school I did my homework and made out with Rose on the couch to the amusement of Tanya and Kate, they would have done anything to be able to join in. Soon it was time for us to leave to go visit Charlie, Esme had cooked a load of food for us to bring so everybody could eat, there was no point in arguing with her. Charlie had been happy with the steak, baked potatoes, roasted carrots and garlic mushrooms. We had visited longer than intended and it was clear that Charlie was happy to see me happy. Thursday we went to school and most of the time afterwards was spent training, patrolling and being with Rose in her workshop, she was so happy with her gift but she noticed I was behaving differently. When we got home from school Friday she had a couple of bags packed for us by the time my homework was finished which I had been doing in my room by now. She was joined by Esme.

"Are we being evicted again? I thought our behavior has been good lately?" I asked with a mischievous tone.

"Sweetheart we know something is bothering you and we've guessed it has something to do with our visitors. Can you talk to me about it?"

"They kinda stink, I don't know why but they don't smell as good as you guys do, I used to think that you guys smelled good because of your diet but they still retain some of the stench that burns my nose. I'm sorry I didn't say anything but I didn't want to offend anyone, I know they are here to help."

Rose chuckled when I had said they stink.

"Sweetheart that is understandable, nobody wants you to be uncomfortable, We have a guest house of sorts nearby where they could stay but we'll need a little time to get it ready. Don't worry they wont be upset with you, nobody is. And you're not being evicted but Rose came to me with the idea, well you did actually. You and Rose can go stay with Emily and Sam this weekend, they are expecting you two. But you got to be in school on time Monday and behave yourselves, they don't have the soundproofing our house has."

I ran over to hug Esme. "Thanks mom, you're the best."

"Darling you sure you don't mind?" I asked Rose.

"I don't mind, you've been avoiding the house like the plague ever since we got back, I don't want you to be uncomfortable and you constantly wrinkling your nose in the common areas makes it clear you're uncomfortable."

We walked downstairs to say goodbye to everyone. I told the Denali's it was nothing personal and that I still appreciated them coming to help and they understood it and wished the two of us a good weekend. Rose and I got into my car, it was a common sight at the rez after all so it didn't stand out anymore. Just before we left Esme came over to the drivers side window.

"Bella, I want you to use your card this weekend to help them with the cost of food, fair is fair ok."

"Yes mom."

I drove us to La Push while Rose played DJ for the short trip. We ended up singing along to Ain't no mountain high enough by the time we arrived at Emily's house.


	20. Paradise is here with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody, thank you for all the comments and kudos, you keep me motivated to keep going. Enjoy.

**Chapter 20**

**My definition of paradise is:**  
this morning with her,  
having coffee.

When we arrived our singing along was obvious for everybody to hear, so Emily was smiling at us from her porch when we got out of the car.

“Hey vampire girl.”

“Hey wolf mother.”

We took our bags inside and Emily led us straight to her guest room. I apologized for bothering her and Sam but she wouldn’t hear it, saying she knew we’d do the same for somebody else in a similar situation. Sam was still at work. Emily wanted to start cooking but we said no, since it would only be the 4 of us tonight we’d take them out to dinner and a movie.

“You guys really don’t have to do that, we’re happy to have you.”

“Sorry but we’re under orders from Esme, tomorrow we should have a big cookout and invite everybody too, our treat.”

“It’s not necessary, the council helps to feed all the wolves. You don’t have to use your money Bella.”

“Emily it’s out of my hands, you’re free to take this up with Esme but you’ll turn blue in the face before you’ll come even close to winning that argument. And it’s not my money.”

“Yes it is your money too, you’re part of the family.” Rose chided me. “Emily it’s really not a problem at all. We should get ready for when Sam comes home and send invites to everybody we want to attend tomorrow” Rose said to Emily.

We got to work sending the invitations to the pack and imprints, the council and Charlie. And making a menu so we’d know what to get during a store run, steak off the grill since it would be a real treat for the pack as well as shrimp and fish. Rose called ahead to place two large orders at the butcher and fish shop Esme used. I got a text from Alice that she wanted to go shopping tomorrow but that she’d give me a rain check, her subtle way of reminding me of the promise I made. I was the first to go take a shower, a short one, Emily’s house wasn’t full of on demand hot water heaters like home. and got dressed in a casual pants and blouse combo. When Rose came in to get dressed I saw a short sundress in her bag.

“Hey can you wear that tomorrow?”

“Sure, you wanna show me off?”

“Maybe.” I said innocently.

I shot a text to Alice on the way downstairs.

* **Tiny, does Rose know how to do salsa dancing? Or at least the basics?***

***It’s not her favorite dance but I think she’ll love doing it with you. Why are you calling me tiny again? I’m not that small, you’re just huge.***

***Thank you, my smallest sister. :P***

I typed out my plan for Emily to read so that Rose wouldn’t know, Emily was enthusiastic about it, so Rose was in for a surprise tomorrow. A cheeky grin on Emily’s face made me suspect Sam was in for a surprise too. Sam came home when Emily was getting ready.

“You better hurry or it will be a girls night out and you’ll have to fend for yourself.” I told Sam causing him to run up the stairs in a panic.

Sam and Emily came downstairs, Sam was no longer panicked and confused.

“Bella you guys really don’t have to do all of this, you’re more than welcome to stay.” Sam said.

“Oh god not you too, my hands are tied Sam. If you guys keep it up I’ll drop you both off at my home so that you get lectured by my mom instead of me.”

“Trust me Sam, even if Esme wasn’t a vampire you would be powerless against her when she gives you a lecture.” Rose added.

As we walked to Sam’s car, his seated 4 people, Rose asked “What is it with you shifters and you inability to accept money?”

“Rose I don’t want to take advantage of anyone anymore, I’m trying to be a better person.” I replied while getting into Sam’s car.

“Bella wanting to be a better person is admirable but you’re being ridiculous about it, it’s your money too now, buy something for yourself and I don’t mean lunch or dinner or anything, the biggest purchase you made was your gift to me.”

“The idea of spending your family’s money on myself makes me uncomfortable it feels like taking advantage.”

“Bella let me tell you something, You know of Jazz’s gift, Esme will never admit it but you are her favorite child, according to him you two have the strongest mother child bond out of all of us, the love going back and forth between you two is almost as strong as the love between the mated pairs in the house, the difference being that it’s motherly love and daughterly love with you two. So stop putting yourself outside the family like this. We all consider her our mother but none of us have the relationship you have with her. You can be so stubborn that you can’t see things for what they are.”

“I. Uh. Errr. Well.” I blabbered.

“Bella you should listen to your imprint.” Sam said.

“Somebody wants to run double patrols.” I mumbled under my breath.

Emily sensing the night could be ruined quickly changed the conversation back to the cookout we’d have tomorrow and made some suggestions and a few places where we could get some things like a sound system for the background music, poor Rose and Sam they had no clue. I quickly shot Alice a text asking her to get me my leather leggings and a white blouse for tomorrow and if she could deliver it to the border. She countered with a blue Henley saying it would be better and more casual for the setting. I didn’t want to have a text argument with her so I agreed to it. Since Sam wasn’t the worlds fastest driver it took us some time to get to port Angeles, we had dinner at a Italian joint, Rose not needing it picked something small to eat, Emily had the homemade ravioli and Sam and I each had their extra large pizza. We went to the movies, Emily wanted to see a recent comedy, I cared more about making out with Rose anyway. On the way back to their house Emily brought up a interesting topic, something that was rarely talked about, of course the pack and those involved knew that Sam had caused her scars, to the outside world the official story was that she had gotten attacked by a bear.

“I ran into Dr. Cullen the other day when visiting a friend in the hospital.” Emily said causing Sam to look a little worried and Rose and me curious. “He has offered to do scar revision surgery for free, he’s not promising anything more than that it will be a lot less visible though.”

“He’s a good surgeon, he rarely gets to use his best techniques though, when he works as a trauma surgeon he doesn’t always have the opportunity to use expert plastic surgery techniques. It would make a big difference though.” Rose said

“I don’t like it. He’s still a cold one.” Sam said.

“Sam I would’ve been as hesitant as you are a year ago, but the man is amazingly as unphased by human blood as a normal human.” I said.

“Well I wouldn’t say it like that, plenty of humans faint at the sight of blood. But to Carlisle human blood is downright repulsive, which is strange given what we are.” Rose added.

“Sam remember what Rose did during old Quill’s little stunt. Carlisle has even better control. As far as the surgery goes it’s something you guys should talk about and think about. Take your time. He’ll do it in the hospital right?”

“Yes he said I’d have to stay overnight most likely.” Emily said.

“That sucks, he can work much faster if there aren’t any humans watching.” I replied causing Sam to be confused. “Sam if he works at vampire speed in the operating room with the nurses and anaesthesiologist watching he’d be giving it away, you know.” I added to clear up his confusion.

Once back at their place I went to bed, I had a very early morning patrol. I was happy though how accepting they had become of Rose, Sam was no longer worried about her being around Emily, she wasn’t treated any different despite knowing what she was and Rose liked being accepted like she would be if she was a normal person and not just by the pack but by those around the pack too.

I got up early, dressed in my wolf clothes and Rose changed into an outdoors outfit, it was clear she intended to come along again and that there was no point in arguing. I was going out to patrol with Quill, schoolgoing wolves tend to patrol heavily during the weekends and vacations, to give the working wolves a break, this was only my first patrol of many this weekend. We tiptoed out of the house to not wake up Emily or Sam and blurred to Quill’s house. Once he came out we phased in the woods and I connected Rose to the two of us. It was a long patrol, Rose did some hunting along the way, we came across nothing of interest again, the exception being the scent of the Denali’s and coming across Emmett who was on his way back from hunting I deliberately tackled him to the ground and we wrestled for a bit, I had his head in my mouth a couple of times so when Emmett finally declared his loss he was covered in wolf saliva. I barked a laugh at him before we continued our patrol, after nearly 4 hours of patrolling we were joined by Embry and Leah, who were scheduled to take over. I used my wolf senses to track down Alice, she was waiting for us where I had expected her to wait. I told Quill to go ahead, Emily probably nearly had breakfast ready anyway. I phased and got dressed and gladly accepted the package from Alice and thanked her, she hoped we’d have fun tonight. In human form I ran back with Rose to Emily’s house using our superspeed. We passed Quill and I told him we wouldn’t leave any breakfast causing him to quickly find his second wind. As usual Emily’s house was packed for breakfast, nearly everybody was there, the sole exceptions being those out on patrol. After giving Sarah a hug I sat down for breakfast.

Rose chose not to eat, Emily asked if Rose wanted anything and Rose asked for coffee saying she ate when we were on patrol. As rose and I drank our coffee, which wasn’t making a dent in my yawning I did feel the need to make a remark.

“This here, having coffee with you is paradise darling.” I said to Rose and gave her a wink causing her to chuckle.

After breakfast they ganged up on me insisting they had it handled for the time being and that they’d wake me up when it was time to go to the butcher and fish shop. I napped for a couple of hours when I was woken up by Rose. A good kiss later I got in the shower and threw on some daily clothes. Emily and Rose had already started on the food prep after their massive store haul. Rose gave me my black card back and Sam and I were instructed to go get the meat and fish along with a list of things to get on the rez once we were back, it was hard for us to not do what our imprints wanted us to do. We drove to port Angeles in my car twice as fast as when Sam had driven us the day before. I swear they had ordered enough to feed a small army, no wolf would go hungry tonight. 30 lbs of meat, 15 lbs of shrimp and 10 lbs of fish.

“Hey Bella what kind of card is that you have, I’ve never seen one before?” Sam asked.

“It’s a American Express Centurion card, there’s not many of them around, it’s on a invite basis, basically for the very wealthy customers. It doesn’t have a limit and they always have to accept it.”

“How rich are the Cullens?”

“I don’t know, I don’t really care about it, I don’t want their money, I already have the greatest jewel the family has to offer.”

“It seems it would make Rosalie happy if you’d spend some on yourself though, I wont pretend to understand the whole vampire mating but it seems she wants you to be happy just as much as we want to see our imprints happy.”

I wanted to change the conversation away from the Cullens money “Sam how come you trust Rose to be around Emily without you there? You do know that she’s dangerous right?”

“I don’t know, it just feels right, like we can all trust her. When she treated old Quill after his stunt it was an eye opener for all of us. The council doesn’t have any answers either, the legends fail us more than they help us. The legends say she should’ve gone into a total frenzy and should’ve tried to kill everyone. But she didn’t, so where does that leave us? And that other one that works as a doctor, a trauma surgeon no less, it’s very confusing, he should kill everone in the hospital everytime somebody bleeds if we go off the legends. We don’t precisely know what Ephraim Black was thinking back then, safe to assume he knew the legends, but he must have seen something more in them than just cold ones that claimed to live differently. Something good inside of them.”

“You can have the Alpha job back if you want btw.”

“You’ve realized it’s a curse and not a blessing, have you?”

“Hey Sam can you do me a couple of favors?”

“Sure.”

“Encourage Emily to have Carlisle do the procedure, she’ll be happy and you will feel less guilty, I’m sure Carlisle will allow you in the operating room as an observer if you believe you’ll be able to keep control of yourself. And I need your help tonight with Jake and Sarah, I’ll work on Sarah you need to make Jake grow a pair. I think they are both afraid I wont approve or something. They could be as happy as the rest of us with imprints.”

“I’ll have to think about the first one, it’s just the idea of a cold one cutting into her.”

“Think of him as a surgeon, he fixed my mangled body didn’t he?”

Sam agreed to seriously think it over, soon we got back and carried all the meat and seafood inside. I got sent out again with Jake in the behemoth to go pick up a couple of large grills and a large seafood boiler to prepare the shrimp in. Wolves came and went all day based off when they had to patrol. I worked on Sarah while Sam worked on Jake, We’d get these two together no matter what. Charlie came down after his patrol, he had been assigned grill duty with Sue. To nobody’s surprise they arrived together in the cruiser.

“Ah Mr and Mrs Swan have arrived.” I jokingly said when they came in. causing them both to look kind of panicked. “I don’t know but as chief I may be able to marry you guys if you want. Worst case I’ll get ordained online.” I added on top of it. Causing them both to start blushing.

“Bells it. Uh. You.”

“Dad, does Sue make you happy?”

“Yes.”

“Sue does that old man make you happy?”

“He’s not that old, yes.”

“I now declare by the powers invested into me as de facto tribal chief Charlie Swan and Sue Clearwater a couple and I sincerely hope the two of them will stop acting like two teenagers trying to hide their relationship from their parents. Dad you may kiss your girlfriend.”

I joined in with the rest that were already laughing their asses off. But Charlie and Sue seemed to have finally gotten the message after Leah and Seth showed their support as well. Once the laughter died down Charlie retaliated.

“So when are you and Rosalie getting married?” Charlie asked.

“Not before we’ve both graduated.” Rose said before I could recover.

I gave death glares to both Charlie and Rose causing them to laugh. I went outside and got started on the shrimp which would be the starter. Other wolves arrived with outdoor furniture, it was a typical day for the area, overcast of course, but there wouldn’t be any rain tonight. So the easiest thing to do was sit outside since there were so many of us. When Sue came to thank me and relieve me for a bit I grabbed Rose and we went upstairs to quickly shower, the things the sight of her naked body did to me though. We ended up having a quickie before we showered being as quiet as possible. I got dressed in the clothes Alice had delivered to the border, she had been right about the Henley. I paired it with flats I had with me, Rose went with boots and a low wide heel, her sundress topped the outfit. Perfect I thought for the surprise. We went downstairs and Rose relieved Emily in the kitchen so she could get ready, I went back to my shrimp, everything was nearly ready to put them in the boiler. When the rest of the invitees arrived I started cooking. Soon we were munching down on the shrimp boil. When we were eating the main the sunset started and the sun threatened to break through the clouds making Rose want to flee. I put a hand on her arm.

“You don’t have to hide here darling.” I reassured her.

“It’s out of habit really.”

There were a few times where the sun broke though a little and a few rays got through the trees causing Rose to sparkle. The only one who really stared was Charlie, at least until Sue smacked him in the arm and reminding him it’s not polite.

“This is weird.” Rose whispered.

“You know most of them can still hear you right? And I understand it’s weird but you don’t have to hide here darling.”

Everybody was well stuffed there had been no food shortage whatsoever. There would be steak and fish sandwiches tomorrow. Charlie mentioned this must have cost everybody a fortune he was surprised to hear it was my treat but didn’t inquire any further. Once everybody’s dinner was settled the mood had become enthusiastic, we had been successful in transitioning it to more of a party atmosphere with the right music. Emily nodded to signal me it was time. I went over to the sound system waiting for her to signal me to switch to the special playlist we had made.

“Hey Sam let’s show how your dancing lessons are going for when we get married.” Emily said to Sam who of course was powerless to refuse and suddenly realized why there were so many strings of lights strung across the yard.

I hit the playlist as soon as they got up, starting with I cant take my eyes off of you by Emilie Mover. Then quickly ran over to Rose to ask her to dance as well, Sue seemed to have caught the bug too and pulled Charlie up, Kim who was Jared’s imprint wanted to dance as well. Rose and I danced the foxtrot to the song.

“So this is what you and Emily have been planning.”

“Oh this part is for her, mine’s coming up in a bit.” I said and gave her a cheeky grin.

When the song was finished Emily made everybody give us some space just before Ed Sheeran – shape of you started playing. “let’s salsa darling. Just follow my lead I wont let you look bad.”

Rose trusted me enough to go with it and we started dancing again, going nicely with the rhythm, I bumped technique up a few notches whenever I was confident enough that Rose could follow. It was after all the dance I was best at. I was too focused on Rose to see others trying to salsa as well but I did hear the cheers. After the song it switched back to slower music, we danced a little longer and when we stopped Charlie saw it as his excuse to stop as well. And quickly went to sit down.

“I’m glad to see you dancing again Bells you used to dance all the time when you were a kid.”

“I found a good partner that enjoys it. Hey dad, you’ll have to work on your stamina if you insist on Rose and I marrying, the father daughter dance is gonna take a lot out of you otherwise.”

Charlie’s eyes got big while Sue started laughing. Desert was served a half an hour later but only us wolves were able to participate, everyone else was still too stuffed. Afterwards the party started dying down, the wolves not on duty stayed behind to help with the cleanup, we had a good system going and before midnight everything was cleaned up and the borrowed equipment loaded up and returned. Everybody was happy. I called it a night because I’d have a busy Sunday of a long patrol and training. Charlie had already left, so he didn’t have the opportunity to ask questions about us staying at Emily’s. Rose and I got in bed.

“Bella, you were right when you said that I do have a happy ending because we met.”

“Take it you had a wonderful day?”

“I did and I don’t hate myself anymore for what I am, I hated myself for over 8 decades. I’m not going to say that I love being a vampire but I don’t hate it anymore because I wouldn’t have you without it. I love you.”

“I love you too darling.” I replied and gave her a kiss. “I’ll never stop doing things to make you happy you know.” I stated.

“I know and I’m grateful for you, you always make me feel wanted, not just loved. I don’t think that’s a normal part of the whole mate thing but it’s nice.”

“You make me feel wanted too and it means a lot to me.”

“Sleep well my love.” Rose whispered before I fell asleep.

Sunday passed quickly, between training and a very long recon patrol there wasn’t much time for other things and I was worn out by the evening. Since I was so tired I called it a night early to give Emily and Sam some alone time. Monday when we got to school we found out Lauren Mallory was back and she looked like a mess. We gave her our phone numbers after I apologized for what I had said and explained that she didn’t have to go through it alone. It seemed to cheer her up a little. We returned home after school, the house having been aired out, while doing our homework in the kitchen Esme was thrilled to hear about what we had done Saturday and was proud of me for having made sure so many people got to eat good food until they were truly stuffed. She suggested that I’d do it more regularly, due to my appetite Esme could make a good guess as to how expensive it was to feed such a large pack. I countered with saying that perhaps I could convince the pack to come over here once in a while too. That got her even more thrilled. The week passed quickly, school, patrolling, spending time with Rose, training with the pack, Denali’s and my family and a dinner at Charlie’s with Sue, Leah and Seth made the time fly by. I had looked forward to having a little free time on Saturday, that was the plan until Alice got her hooks on me Friday when I was having dinner in the kitchen.

“Oh Bella we’re going shopping tomorrow.” She said and I sighed.

“Alice really?”

“You promised me three hours and Rose is going to come too so unless you want to be without her I suggest you keep your promise.”

“You got me there Little Oracle. When do we leave?” I said with Alice rolling her eyes at the latest nickname.

“9 AM sharp.”

After dinner I hung out with Rose in her workshop until it was time for the family movie night. Just before we were about to start Carlisle came home and after kissing Esme he told me the good news, Emily had agreed to the scar revision surgery. While Rose and I were cuddled on one of the love seats during the movie she had started teasing me mercilessly again, she was good at doing it so nobody really saw it. The living room was quickly filled with a musky scent from my arousal, making everybody slightly uncomfortable. As she continued teasing me my fangs shot out, I was about to bite her when Esme chided us.

“Not here girls, take it to one of your rooms.”

I looked around and saw multiple family members staring, this was the first time they had all seen my fangs, let alone what I was about to do. I grabbed Rosalie and ran upstairs with her bridal style. Hearing several family members chuckling. The door was barely closed when I bit her, it took us an hour before we were satisfied.

“Dammit Rose.” I said while recovering from my last orgasm. “I’d like to watch a movie with the family once, you’re such an irresistible tease.” It only caused Rose to laugh her cutest laugh

Rose had tired me out enough that I fell asleep quickly, waking up at 7 in the morning with her in her usual spot in the crook of my arm. I started teasing her after saying good morning and soon we both got some additional release. We quickly showered and got dressed before going downstairs so I could have breakfast. Esme gave us a disapproving look. I pointed at Rose in my defense who chuckled again.

“It’s her fault mom, I wanted to watch the movie, next time you should sit next to me to protect me from her.” I defended myself causing Rose to laugh even harder. While eating breakfast we were joined by Alice and Jasper. Jasper looked like a man who just had a good time and I’d swear Alice would be blushing if she could.

“You good Little Oracle?”

“I made the mistake of looking into your future to see if you’d be ready in time.” Alice said neutrally.

“Lucky you Jazz, I hope she was sufficiently inspired.”

“Bella. Finish your breakfast.” Esme said while slapping my arm.

“Sorry mom.”

When I was done eating breakfast we got ready to leave and ended up leaving ahead of time. Rose did the driving with Alice shoved in the back seat of Rose’s M3.

“Looking into peoples futures can be dangerous Little Oracle. I do hope you liked what you saw.” I teased the still half broken Alice.

Alice hissed. Rose and I laughed our asses off. With Rose behind the wheel it only took us two hours to get to Seattle, Alice had recovered as soon as we got to the mall she had choses. She dragged us from store to store, pants, blouses, shirts, shoes, accessories, you name it she found ones that we’d like. I tried to buy as little as possible but soon gave up on that when Alice would buy it in my place, there wasn’t a point to putting something back that I liked. After two hours we were carrying way too many bags to still appear natural so we went back to the car to put the bags away before Alice took us to get some lingerie, I had a hard time not teasing her again. My stomach loudly rumbling reminded Alice of my appetite and Rose put the shopping to an immediate halt stating I had to be fed immediately. We went to a noodle bar in the mall, everything in the mall was upscale, including the food court. After downing 3 bowls of ramen Alice decided we had to go and she and Rose winked at each other. _‘These two are up to something’_ I thought to myself. We put the lingerie that we bought away where there was some room left and drove away. A little later to my surprise we stopped at a large luxury and exotic car dealership. _What are these two up to now?_ I wondered.

I followed them inside, I figured Rose perhaps had to pick up some parts or something.

“Bella time for you to buy one last thing. You need a car.” Alice said

“Alice I have a car.”

“You need another car, one that you can drive on occasion and for fun.” Rose added

“My car is plenty fun and I don’t need a car so expensive that they sell it in a place like this.”

I did admit to myself that I’d love any of these cars but I don’t want to spend the Cullens money. Rose came up to me and took my hands. Alice was busy on her phone. Suddenly Esme appeared on speaker.

“What car did Bella pick?” Esme asked.

“Oh come on, you’re in on this too mom? I don’t need a car.”

“Bella you are without any doubt my most stubborn daughter, Rose couldn’t even give you a run for your money. It’s alright to spend some money on yourself sweetheart, it doesn’t mean you’re taking advantage of us at all, you’re family.”

“Bella my love, do it for me please, buy a car you like it would make me happy” Rose said and I couldn’t resist anymore.

“I’ll do it for you.” I said as I gave in.

“Have fun and pick a good one sweetheart, see you soon.” Esme said before she hung up.

We were soon joined by a salesman who wasn’t overly fond of us being there, in fact he was downright dismissive almost, we shot him deathglares, causing him to say he’d let us look around. I wandered through the showroom, not all the cars were new but the used ones all were in good condition with low miles. I got stuck between an Audi R8, a Porsche GT3 RS and an Aston Martin V12 vantage.

“Rose a little help please.”

“The Porsche is a road legal track car, the Aston is the comfiest and the Audi is somewhere in between. So what would you prefer?”

“The Aston has the best engine sound.” I added.

I opened the Astons door and went to sit in it, I was comfy, but felt sporty, the interior looked so good. I loved how it looked on the outside. The salesman from earlier had come running to us.

“Please do not sit in any of the vehicles.” He said rudely.

I got out of the car and Rose saw the look on my face and immediately laid a hand on my arm to keep me calm. I urged her to walk with me over to where the salesman had come from, there were a few others sitting there.

“Who here actually wants to sell a car?!” I asked sternly.

The rude salesman that had caught up with us chuckled and said “As if a bunch of schoolgirls can afford any car in here.”

I ignored him and told the other sales people “I’d like to buy the Aston Martin V12 vantage with the manual transmission.”

“That’s a 170.000 dollar car missy, why don’t you leave before I call the police.” The rude salesman said.

I turned around and looked at him with my eyes turned black “Is that all it costs.”

I turned back to the other salespersons and pulled out my centurion black card.

“I’ll take the Audi R8 V10 and the Porsche GT3 RS as well. He does not get a penny of the commission, start on the paperwork now before I buy this whole dealership and fire your asses.” I said in my authoritarian tone.

“And I want to speak with the management!” I yelled loud enough to be sure the management could hear me.

The salespeople started pulling out papers and I turned to Rose. “Esme is going to kill me.”

“No she won’t, She’ll think it’s hilarious and will be proud of you. I’m proud of you, what do you intend to do with the other 2 cars?”

“I hadn’t really figured that part out yet, any car you fancy?”

“I wouldn’t mind to get my hands on the Audi once in a while.” Rose said with a smirk.

We were soon joined by the manager who apologized for the way we had been treated, I asked him to severely deal with that salesman and wanted a guarantee he wouldn’t make a penny off of this sale. Arrangements were made for the Porsche and Audi to be delivered, the dealership used it’s connections at the DMV to immediately get the now insured Aston Martin a temporary registration. By 5 PM everything was handled and the entire transaction was flawlessly paid for with my centurion black card and we were ready to leave, the Aston had been taken outside by a couple employees, the manager handed me the special key fob along with the paperwork. I’d be driving the Aston back with Rose and Alice would drive Rose’s BMW. Starting up the car made me smile, the sound from the V12 engine was amazing. Rose pressed the sports mode button which opened up the exhaust making it even louder. I started driving, I loved how responsive it was. Soon we boarded the ferry. Once we made the crossing and the car was up to temperature again I left Alice in the dust, Alice knew better than to push Rose’s BMW, Rose and I made it home in record time, the Aston was a very fast car, I had already gotten used to the 7 speed manual transmission. When I arrived home I parked the Aston in the garage, the old spot of Edwards volvo was still available. We went inside with a huge smile on my face. Esme came out to greet us which caused my smile to disappear.

“Uhm, mom. I’m sorry I got angry at the rude salesman and bought three cars to make my point, I promise I’ll see to selling the other two as soon as they arrive.”

“Don’t be silly Bella, they are yours, Alice called to explain everything as soon as you guys left the dealership, she didn’t want you to beat yourself up over it, I’m proud of how you handled it and it will make for a fun story. Let’s go look at your new car while we wait for Alice to arrive.”

Esme liked the shape and the grey color. I asked her if she wanted to go for a spin but she had to finish dinner. We were sitting in the kitchen while Esme cooked when a worried Alice arrived.

“They decided, they are coming for us.” She blurted out while running in the house.

“Alice, focus. When are they coming?”

“It looks like late next week. I can’t see the outcome because of the shifters.”

“Alice I need you to go get Jazz for me, I’d like to talk to him once he has calmed you down. Go now.” I said to the anxious pixie.

“Mom, is it ok if the pack comes over for a meeting?” I asked causing Esme to snap out of her trance

“Of course it’s ok, I’ll make them something to eat.”

I grabbed my phone and messaged the pack to inform them of a emergency meeting at my house.

“Mom, I’ll go get a bunch of pizza for the pack to eat during the meeting. You don’t have to rush into cooking a huge meal right now, I’m sure you’ll have the opportunity in the near future though.”

Esme knew she didn’t have enough food in the house to feed them all in a hurry. “You’re right sweetheart but let me go get the pizza’s, ok?”

“Thanks mom.” I said and gave her a hug. “It’s gonna be ok. I promise.”

“I believe you sweetheart, I just don’t look forward to having to fight.”

“I know but if we run than so many innocent people here would be left at the whims of a newborn army.”

After Esme left I went to sit on one of the loveseats with Rose, pulling her in tightly while waiting for Jazz and the pack.


	21. preparing for war

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, life got in the way. Going to start on the next chapter tomorrow, hope you all enjoy this one.

**Chapter 21**

**You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.**

The pack started arriving, as did the family members that were out of the house. Sam had brought the council with him. When everybody was present, Esme returned with a huge amount off pizza and proceeded to put them on the dining table together with soda and water. While me and the pack were eating Jazz and Alice finally joined us.

“What did you see precisely Alice? All the details.” I asked in between bites

“They were in a warehouse somewhere, at least 35 newborns, their leader was joined by Victoria who made the decision to come to Forks, I see them arriving somewhere on next Saturday.”

“Jazz how bad does it look?” I asked and before he answered I added for the pack’s benefit “Jazz used to fight in vampire wars, he’s the resident expert if you will.”

“It’s less than I’d bring, so we have a decent chance, their leader and Victoria are the wildcards.” He said and then held up a sketch of a face Alice made. “I don’t know him and neither does Alice. Perhaps one of you recognizes him.” Jasper said while passing the sketch around.

“I recognize him.” Sam spoke up when he had the sketch. “I think it’s Riley Biers, a local kid who disappeared in Seattle from the university a while ago. Billy what do you think?” Sam said while showing him the sketch. Billy nodded in confirmation.

“That would be good news for us, as unfortunate as it is for Riley, it means that the newborn army isn’t led by someone with experience. Most vampires are aware of such armies and the wars in the south, but likely Victoria only picked up some information about it, if she travelled south. Perhaps Laurent knows a few things too, assuming he’ll be with them.” Jasper said.

“What are we to expect from their capabilities, possible training, thirstiness?” I asked.

“As stated previously when we started training together, the newborns own blood lingers in their system, greatly enhancing their strength, they are led by instincts, do not go for the obvious kill, they will be expecting that. You have all done a good job against them so far, but taking down one or two that are in flight mode is an entirely different matter. We must assume that they are well trained, it would be foolish to assume otherwise. As far as thirstiness, newborns are led by it, likely they wont have fed in some days when they get here. That said the packs blood wont appeal to them, we don’t fully understand why you smell different to our family, but I can assure you that you will smell as repulsive to them as they smell to you. It’s also not uncommon for them to fight among themselves, so their number may dwindle.”

“Surely there must be another way, maybe we could prevent it from turning into a fight.” Carlisle said.

“That would be the best outcome yes, but we must prepare for war, to do otherwise would be foolish. Mom, Carlisle I understand you both aren’t fans of such violence, but we must be ready if we aren’t given any other choice.” I said and they nodded in understanding.

“Bella is right, this is an army coming for us, we could run, but the pack can’t. We have an alliance, something that was unimaginable a hundred years ago, we should honor it. You cannot prevent and prepare for a war at the same time.”

“Does anyone have any ideas? As far as strategy and tactics go.” I added.

“We can choose the terrain to our advantage, away from town, to intercept them before they get close.” Jasper stated.

“How do you plan to achieve that.”

“We establish a trail of smell leading to the place of our choosing. They will likely follow that.”

“What about keeping part of our force hidden for as long as possible? To hit them in a flank?” I asked.

“That could work, though I wouldn’t recommended a mixed force hiding, best option would be us vampires being in the open with the pack hidden, you guys are more than fast enough to take them by surprise, a well timed attack would devastate them.” Jasper said.

“Jasper what about bags of human blood? Will the more adult vampires in our ‘force’ be able to control themselves and would it distract the newborns. We have a legend about blood causing a brief distraction.” Jake asked.

“It would be less of a surprise to us since we’d be expecting it and would be fully focussed on the fight, I don’t see however how we could tear open bags without having the newborns all over us immediately.”

“You don’t tear them open, we could make blood bombs, set them off at a time of our choosing. A series of them so that we can take advantage of the wind. Carlisle can you get your hands on the blood without raising too much suspicion?”

“I can, but would it work that way Jasper?”

“it would have to be timed right and the explosion would provide the benefit of the blood becoming an aerosol haze, but it could provide a split second advantage. Of course the fresher the blood is the better.”

We kept up the strategy meeting a while longer, finalizing our main battleplan, The council was obviously worried, they all had children involved in this after all.

“I think I will fight in my human form after filling up on blood, it’s already established it greatly enhances my strength, I can still connect to the pack in my human form.” I said.

“You did give Emmett a a- you defeated Emmett with ease, after you had a mountain lion for breakfast. so you may have a point there.” Jasper said

“Bella why don’t you connect to us as well?” Rose asked.

“I haven’t tried it on the others yet to be honest. Can everybody sit still and keep quiet so I can focus, the first time is the most difficult, I assure you and Rose can attest to this that it is not like Edwards gift, I will be able to hear your thoughts but you will also be able to hear mine, and it’s only possible when I choose to link to you, I wont be in your mind 24/7. If there are things you don’t want me to know while we are linked I suggest not thinking about it, that’s the way we do it in the pack.”

“I trust you sweetheart.” Esme said and I took it as her volunteering.

I focused hard on Esme and eventually got through and I could hear all the worried thoughts in her mind.

 _“Mom it’s going to be ok, we’ll make it, I love you.”_ I said in thought causing Esme to gasp. _“Don’t speak, think your response.”_

_“Bella?”_

_“Yes mom.”_

_“This is amazing, oh sweetheart I love you too.”_

_“I’ll see about adding Carlisle, let me know if it becomes uncomfortable for you.”_

I kept the link with Esme open and focused on Carlisle, I suspect due to their mate bond I managed to open a link to him with a little more ease.

_“Esme is that you?”_

_“Yes dear, Bella added you to our connection.”_

_“You truly have an extraordinary gift, I wonder if you’d be willing to let me study it further?”_

_“Sure when all this is over.”_

I kept adding the family to the connection, and eventually added in Rose and the pack with ease. Once everybody had gotten slightly used to it I decided to call it quits and closed all the links but one.

_“I’ll keep you safe darling, I love you with every fiber of my being.”_

_“And I’ll keep you safe my love, I love you with all my existence.”_

Rose and I smiled at each other when I closed the link between us.

“As you can tell, we are no longer connected. Esme I’ll need you to take me to the house the Denali coven is staying in, assuming they still want to help. Sue, Billy I need you two to get Charlie down to the rez before the battle and keep him there for the whole weekend if need be. And finally, our two puppies, Collin and Brady, I know you two want to be in the thick of it but you’re both staying behind in La Push, it’s not up for debate. We cant risk the rez being left defenseless if one of them slips through us or circles around us.”

Esme nodded, so did Sue and billy while Colin and Brady pouted. We laid out the training plan for Sunday and the week, The Cullens and Denali’s would help patrol, to allow more rest for the pack. I thanked everybody for coming and pulled Jake and Sarah aside before they left.

“Sarah has this idiot asked you out on a date?” I asked.

“Ehm, No.”

“Do you want him to?” I asked causing her to blush, I opened a link with her to listen to her thoughts and closed it again.

“Come on short cake, just say yes and don’t worry about me, I accepted that you two are truly each others soulmates and I wish you two happiness, do me a favor the both of you and go on a date.”

“But, But” Jake started.

“Jake I already told you multiple times that I approve, I want you both to be happy and the way you two are denying your feelings for each other is ridiculous. Stop thinking about what others think, make each other happy.”

“Thank you.” Sarah said as she gave me a hug.

After seeing the last pack members off Esme led me to the house where the Denali’s are staying, after updating them on the latest developments and the plan they reaffirmed their commitment to fight on our side. It had been a little awkward and strange to open a links with them, the thought on the forefront of Irena’s mind alternated between being furious at Laurent and hoping he wouldn’t be there. I asked Esme if she’d mind if I did some hunting on the way back, something that surprised her at first but she didn’t mind since she needed to hunt as well. I tried to focus on the vampire I knew was inside me, we quickly came up to a herd of deer, but I wasn’t thirsty for the blood. Since I couldn’t do it instinctively, so I had to do it deliberately. I made my fangs come out, ran and jumped one of the deer, breaking it’s neck as soon as I had my hands on it and bit down in it’s throat, the warm blood wasn’t quenching like it would be for a vampire but I didn’t find it repulsive. When I was done, Esme was wrapping up with her own deer.

“I wonder if your eyes will turn fully gold if you keep feeding on blood instead of it being gold speckles through your green eyes.” Esme wondered as we ran back to the house.

“Maybe, wouldn’t be the worst thing if my eyes are like Rose’s for a while. Was your dinner satisfactory mom? I’ll have to start treating things with great care again.” I said and then sighed.

“You’d do anything for Rose wouldn’t you? I wasn’t that thirsty, but yes. And please leave the house in one piece.”

“Almost anything, there are some things I can’t do, but she is my world. I’ll do my best, I think being aware of the strength is helpful.”

We soon made it home, business for the day had been wrapped up so after saying goodnight to everybody I went upstairs with Rose, I needed sleep but there was always time for some fooling around. On Sunday we trained most of the day, most wolves would be staying over for lunch and dinner, Esme was well excited of course and had stocked the pantry early in the morning. Sarah and Jake were going to Port Angeles, finally going on a date. It left Charlie home alone, so I drove over before dinnertime to save him from a tv dinner. Without thinking too much I had taken the Aston. Safe to say Charlie was taken aback by the car.

“The Cullens let you borrow this fancy car?” Charlie asked after getting in the passenger seat.

“It’s mine actually, They forced me into buying it.” I said as I started the V12 engine.

“How can they force you into buying a car? How much did it cost? Did you also pay for that cook out at the rez last week with their money?” Charlie asked as I started driving.

“They are very persuasive, all the kids have a toy car and they didn’t want me to feel left behind even though I didn’t feel left behind. It cost 180 grand. And yes the cook out was paid for with the Cullen’s money, Esme insisted.”

“Bella this is too much that they’re doing for you.”

“Yeah tell me about it, you’re preaching to the choir here old man. Alice goes shopping for me whether I want it or not and she is not a fan of cheap brands either. I went shopping with Alice and Rose yesterday, when I didn’t want to spend their money on something they’d just buy it for me behind my back, then they ambushed me at a exotic car dealership. That’s how I ended up with this car and well things frankly got out of hand. It just makes me feel bad to spend their money on anything significant.”

“Why don’t you tell them that?”

“I do, they just counter with: you’re a Cullen now, with the responsibilities come a few privileges.” I said as I drove up the long driveway to the house.

“Do you want me to talk to Esme?”

“Sure, wont do much good though. I guess I’ll have to get used to it eventually though.”

I parked the Aston in it’s spot, Charlie was surprised to see a number of cars parked outside.

“Most of the pack is here for dinner, dad. Sarah and Jake are on a date, I came to save you from a tv dinner and to talk to you.”

“What do you mean they’re on a date?!”

“Dad, shifters we, well we do this thing called imprinting, it’s how we find our soulmates. Now it hasn’t happened before but Sarah and Jake imprinted on each other. It’s why they have become as thick as blood, I imprinted on Rose a while back and it took me a long time to accept and deal with it. So, Sarah and Jake kept their imprinting secret and even after I found out due to my initial anger they didn’t go beyond the best friends part. I made them go on a date after making it clear to the both of them yesterday that I approve. If you want to be angry take it out on me, not on them. It’s gonna make them happy to be together Dad.”

“Weird big dog stuff huh? Is this why Jake has been refusing to move back in with Billy? I will hurt him if he hurts her Bella, I don’t care if he turns into a big dog.”

“We turn into wolves dad and it’s part of the reason Jake didn’t want to move back in with Billy, not all of it. He’s incapable of hurting her and vice versa, it’s part of the imprint.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Is it them having sex that you’re afraid of?” I asked Charlie causing him to turn red.

“Well, uh. -”

“Dad they both respect your house and your rules and if needed I can give them an Alpha order. But remember that we’ll all be 18 this year, you can’t prevent them from doing it forever. I mean I doubt they’ll be able to keep up with Rose and me but eventually it will become part of their relationship.”

“Ahhh, no. err. Uh. let’s go eat.” Said Charlie with a red face while shuddering and a look on his face that he didn’t want to continue the conversation.

We went inside the house and shortly after dinner was served, Charlie tried to talk to Esme about the financial situation but she wouldn’t have it, she had countered with the fact he wouldn’t treat either Sarah or me lesser financially either. it was entertaining to hear Charlie try though. I took Charlie home after dinner, again in the Aston. I accidentally slipped in my usual driving style, fortunately in a car like that you don’t really notice how fast it’s going all that much and it was only for a short time. He was too busy talking about going out to fish on the ocean next weekend to really notice it anyway, little did he know it was a ruse to get him out of the house. Once back I went out with Rose to go hunting, still an awkward experience, I had taken down a black bear with ease, even though I shared it with Rose I felt like I was full to the brim. A part of me was afraid of losing Rose, she was a good fighter, but still she now trained with Jazz one on one while I slept, to give me some peace of mind. But she was always back in her usual spot when I woke up. A part of me wanted to run away with her, far away but I also knew she wouldn’t go along with it. We had decided to go to school as long as possible, Since Alice would provide good warning.

Monday morning as we were about to leave Alice took out her Porsche, I followed suit and got into the Aston with Rose. I had to admit the car was rapidly growing on me, though it sure got a lot of attention in a place like Forks. We could barely get out of it in the school parking lot after being surrounded by our fellow students. It was the talk of the day and then some, the newest rumours were entertaining at best, outright horrible at worst. Rose was better at dealing with it. During lunch we sat at our human ‘friends’ table who to Roses satisfaction had accepted her and regularly spoke with her, something that was a new experience for her, the pack after all were part of the secretive supernatural world. Angela, bless her heart had noticed my eyes looked different. I shrugged it off and rose whispered I should start wearing contacts to hide my by now heavily gold speckled green eyes. I was glad school was over, it was hard to focus, too many things on my mind

A old friend of Carlisle came by to visit, he does not however live the way the Cullens and Denali’s do. But after hearing of our troubles, Garrett had pledged to not hunt humans, he’d try to live off of animal blood for the time being and promised to let us know if he started having difficulties, Carlisle would then give him a couple of bags of blood and ensure he left the area. He was adamant on helping though and hoped to find strength in that. He did reek to high heavens, after being explained how it made things difficult for me and according to him I reeked as well, he had agreed to stay out of the house, little did we know that him going to the house the Denali coven was staying in would change his existence. Him and Kate got off on the right foot to say the least, The blonde that together with her sisters had caused the folklore myths of the succubus seemed to have finally found the one person she was meant to be with.

The week progressed with a steady routine, school, training, hunting and fooling around under the sheets with Rose, it was the only stress reliever we had currently that we could make time for, the pack had turned over most of the patrol duties to our allies and family the Cullens and our friends the Denali’s, since unlike us they didn’t need to sleep. Jazz had been trying out various bomb mechanisms, though with a watery paint instead of blood to come up with the most efficient way to aerosol blood rapidly over a decent enough distance. I had started wearing the contacts, by Wednesday my eyes were completely gold, they were annoying and blurred my vision. My strength was greatly enhanced by now, if my focus slipped for a second then it led to an accident, Rose started carrying my, or rather our food tray during lunch after I had had left one with dents from my fingers in it, one isn’t that bad, they chalk it up to some kids playing a stupid prank or something. Fortunately when I had accidentally damaged my locker, nobody was around and Rose had been able to quickly fix it sufficiently so that it wasn’t really noticeable.

We had chosen our terrain, it provided natural cover for the pack and it would be easy to lure them in, using her gift Alice was able to confirm that luring them in would work, the outcome was a mystery due to the pack being involved, to Alice’s chagrin. Though a couple of times during the week she had been able to give us good news, as Jazz had predicted, the newborn army had done some infighting so their numbers were lower. On Thursday a truck had arrived with the two extra cars I had bought, shortly before dinner time. Surprisingly the rude salesman had come along to apologize for his behavior, I was unwilling to accept it, but Esme insisted that I accept his apology. The Audi and Porsche were unloaded and Rose put them in her workshop. Everybody had been excused from school for Friday, the pack included and time off of work for those who needed it. There were some things we had to do and everybody wanted to spend some quality time with their loved ones. Friday evening there would be a mutual meal at my home for everybody, Esme insisted on it.

I woke up Friday morning to my most favorite sight in the world, Rose in the crook of my arm purring.

“Morning darling.” I said still half asleep

“Did you sleep well my love?”

“Always when you’re near.” I said and leaned in to kiss her.

We couldn’t cuddle for long, we had to get ready to go to the rez, the council wanted to do a old Quileute blessing ceremony for the pack, It would’ve been rude no to go. A quick shower with benefits later, I had breakfast in the kitchen. When we were about to leave Rose was walking towards the door that led to the garage, I grabbed her hand and let her out the front door.

“you want to run?” Rose asked.

“Sort of.” I said as I led her at superspeed to her workshop.

“We’re taking the one of my new cars, Esme wont let me sell them anyway. May as well use them. Which one do you want to be driven in?”

“We’ll take the Porsche, it will attract less attention.” Rose decided.

Not much later we were on the road the Porsche GT2 RS was like a rocket, so in no time we were at the rez, the Porsche did stand out there somewhat. After parking outside Emily’s house we went to greet the pack and council. Everybody put up a brave face but we all had our worries, those of us who had imprints were mainly worried about them. The council told us of a boat that was waiting for us in the harbor, we drove over there, Rose and I couldn’t take passengers due to the half roll cage in the Porsche. We took the boat to the island off the coast, where the council performed an extensive ceremony, it was fascinating and took half an hour. When we got back in the harbor everybody went their separate ways until dinner time. Rose had agreed to visiting Charlie at the station, so we went for coffee and donuts first before parking outside the police station. We went inside and walked up to the front desk that was being manned by officer Mark.

“Hello, I’d like to file a complaint against chief Swan!” I said loudly enough so that Charlie could hear it.

“Right this way ma’am.” Mark said as he buzzed the door to let me in. “What is your complaint about?” He asked once Rose and I were inside the police only area with Charlie coming towards us.

“I have reasons to believe the chief is not a real police officer, he’s an imposter. Look there’s the evidence right there, he’s not holding coffee and a donut.” I said seriously before Rose and I succumbed to our giggling.

“I’ll look right into it, ma’am.” Mark said with a smile on his face.

We handed him a spare cup of coffee and let him pick a donut, he always played along after all and followed Charlie into his office. Charlie was happy to see us and we talked for a while having coffee and donuts, Rose excused herself from having to eat a pointless donut by stating her diet didn’t allow for donuts.

“I noticed you’re driving another car.” Charlie suddenly changed the conversation.

“It’s Bella’s too, you should have seen her wiping the smug look off of that arrogant salesman’s face when she bought the 3 cars. He was so confident that we were there to waste his time and couldn’t afford anything in there. The dealership sent him with the truck when that one and the Audi were delivered so he could formally apologize. Esme had her hands full convincing Bella to accept his apology.” Rose spoke up before I had the chance to reply.

“You bought three cars?! And why aren’t you two in school today?”

I was about to answer when Rose cut me off again.

“She felt so bad about it Charlie, but it’s fine really and Esme and Carlisle wont let her sell two of them. We’re going camping this weekend, so Carlisle pulled us out of school to leave earlier, he had to wrap up a couple of things at the hospital first though so we had enough time to visit you before we’re leaving.” Rose answered in my place, wrapping Charlie even further around her finger.

Charlie grunted. “You’re lucky Esme loves you so much. And that you brought your lawyer with you to explain.” He turned to Rose “You aren’t considering getting a law degree are you? Cause if you are I’d like to convince you to become a prosecutor.” He asked Rose.

“I assure you Charlie I have no interest in getting a law degree. I’m considering becoming a veterinarian in case Bella gets hurt.” She chuckled.

“Hey!” I said and nearly gave Rose a slap on her arm. Causing Charlie to laugh even harder.

Once my embarrassment and slight anger had faded I interrupted Rose and Charlie’s conversation.

“So you got any plans this weekend dad, aside from fishing?”

“I uh, well. You know Sue. And uhm me.”

“Ooh you two going on a date?”

“Well it’s not really a date, I uh.”

“Dad you have no reason to be embarrassed or hesitant, everybody supports you in this. Besides you have the blessings of both your daughters, your step children and the tribes chief. What more can you want? Sue is a good woman and she’s just right for you and vice versa.”

“Well I’m staying over there tonight, she said the house would be empty and tomorrow I’m going fishing with Billy and we better catch a decent amount cause Sue wants to make her fish fry for dinner tomorrow.”

“Billy and you kissed and made up?”

“Well Sue has been explaining a few things, given I know what you and the kids are, she’s still vague about Rose and the rest of the family though, and doesn’t answer the questions I have. But it led me to realize I overreacted and that at the time Jake came to live with us it was really out of Billy’s hands.”

“Dad, you shouldn’t ask questions about Rose or the rest of the family, just know that they are good people and that Rose makes me very happy.” I chided Charlie somewhat. “I’m glad you and your best friend are talking again.”

“I know, I know. No questions. I’m glad that Billy and me were able to move forward too.”

“Dad, this thing that happened to me, is a little different for me, I can’t grow old, it’s unlikely that I’ll die too. The day will come that I have to leave Forks with the Cullens, you need to understand that you have to stop asking questions if you want us to keep in touch and visit, otherwise you’ll have to make due with knowing that I’m happy. We’re not going away yet any time soon, but it’s something you need to consider. There are laws being enforced that you don’t even know exist, you could say the supernatural world has it’s own police and they aren’t as nice as you, keeping you in the dark about some things is for your safety.” I whispered to him.

“Ok, ok you made your point, I just don’t want to lose you.”

“It’s for the best this way Charlie, you could visit us from time to time when we’re gone.” Rose said.

We chatted a little longer, when we were about to leave Charlie looked a little hesitant.

“What is it that is troubling you dad?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask, since you pressed charges well you know once a ball gets rolling and all that.” The Texas ranger division has been investigating it and well they have something of a case, but it would be a lot stronger if you’d be willing to testify in court against them and your mother. Cases like this can be difficult without evidence and it seems they have done it to other girls too and you’re still the only one that pressed charges.” He said sheepishly looking down.

“DON’T YOU EVER CALL HER MY MOTHER EVER AGAIN!!!” I snarled at Charlie.

Rose grabbed me with both hands and got me to calm down a little.

“It’s ok my love, he didn’t mean it like that. Can you do a breathing exercise for me?” Rose said as she got me even calmer.

I closed my eyes and did a breathing exercise, between that and Rose’s touch I calmed down completely. I turned back to look at a still shocked Charlie.

“Sorry dad, I’ll need to think about it. Sorry for yelling at you. I know it’s not an excuse but I got a lot on my mind right now. Just talk to mom about it. I mean Esme.”

“I should apologize too, I didn’t think about it and I know who you mean when you say mom. You really bonded with her haven’t you?”

“No need to apologize dad. She’s the best and I don’t mean it in a bad way but she’s the mom I always wanted when I was growing up.”

“Esme is like a mom pulled out of those hallmark channel movies that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” Rose added and I smiled.

“She really is.” I said.

As we were saying goodbye Charlie made a last remark.

“I’ve never seen two people that are such a good match, I hope you’re being as good for Rosalie as she is for you.”

“I try every day dad.”

“You do more than try.” Rose said with a smile.

We said goodbye again and said goodbye to mark on the way out who thanked us again for the coffee and donut. After getting into the GT2 RS and taking out my contacts I turned to Rose.

“Anything in particular you want to do today? I’ve been a little selfish with our time so far.”

“I want to take you to one of my favorite spots in the area but we should pick up lunch for you first. We both should feed on the way back from the spot too.”

“Sure, I don’t want to bother mom though, so we can stop for a pizza.”

A little later we had gotten the pizza and were on our way to Roses spot, I got a little worried while driving cause the sun started coming through but Rose reassured me. I parked the GT2 RS in the spot where she told me to park and followed her with a pizza in my hands and Rose had a backpack on. Rose led me to a very secluded spot along the river, there was a small clearing along the river bank.

“I made it the first time we came to Forks, for when I wanted to be alone. I never brought anyone here before.” Rose said.

“I can see why, it’s beautiful, thanks darling.”

After eating my pizza Rose got up and took her clothes off, I followed suit but I had gotten the wrong impression, we went swimming in the river instead. When we got out rose got a big beach towel out of her back pack for us to cuddle on till we were dry. Time with Rose always seemed to move at a different pace, before we knew it, it was time to start heading home. Since it made it easier for me, Rose led the way while hunting. We quickly drained a couple of deer. I was still somewhat messy so a shower was definitely in order when we got home. It was hard to deny what I was when I fed this regularly, I was way stronger, needed less sleep, my skin was harder, my senses were improved, my eyes were now fully gold but fortunately I still didn’t have a vampires thirst. We soon got to the car and were quickly home. Once inside I went into the kitchen to ask Esme if she needed a hand after I had a shower. Carmen was helping her with the remainder of the food prep. She was surprised by my eye color.

“Oh dios mio, sus ojos. You’re a messy eater though.” Carmen said

“Freaky aint it?” I asked her with a shit eating grin.

“We got it sweetheart, go take a shower and throw your clothes immediately in the washing machine, Rose will make sure they are laundered correctly. I hope having all the windows open is helping for you.”

“Will do mom. I don’t know, hold on.” I said and stepped closer to Carmen and took a good whiff. “I don’t know, it may be helping or Carmen smells different, could it be my recent change in diet?”

“It’s ok Bella, you don’t have to spare my feelings.” Carmen said.

“No I meant what I said, you either smell different or it’s the windows being open.”

“You weren’t drinking blood the first time you met Carmen though. Maybe that’s it. But enough of your stalling, go shower.” Esme said.

As I walked upstairs, she reminded me to put my clothes in the washing machine, which put a grin on my face, she was in full mom mode.

“I love you mom.” I said as I walked upstairs.

“I love you too sweetheart.”

I hung out with Rose after showering and starting the washing machine. My clothes were bloody to say the least. Soon the pack started arriving along with the imprints. Esme with Carmen’s help had outdone herself, the mood was tense at first, not due to where we were but because of what was waiting for us tomorrow. But eventually everybody managed to forget about it for a bit and have a good time. Most didn’t want to stay for too long, so after a few hours everybody had left after getting the latest updates and Rose and I wished our family members a good night before going to Rose’s room.

“Rose, I. Tomorrow -“ I said as soon as I closed the door of her room behind me

“You don’t have to say anything my love.” Rose interrupted.

“I love you Rose.”

“I love you too, no matter what happens, thank you. You have changed me on a fundamental level, I’m a different person because of you.”

“Ok but same, you have changed me for the better.”

“Just promise that if I-“

“Rose, I wont make promises I can’t keep. I’m not going to do anything rash if a piece of you get’s ripped off, I know you wont be gone, but beyond that I’m not making any promises, I can’t.”

“I don’t think I can make any myself. I suppose it makes sense, the loss of a mate is devastating for a vampire, often too devastating. And for better or worse, part of you is a vampire.”

“Rose, we’ll always have tonight. Let’s not wander on the trivial things, what’s important is that we love each other and we still have tonight for sure.”

We embraced each other and started kissing, I asked Rose for permission before I opened a link, I showed her all the good times I’ve had because of her, how much she means to me and she did the same. I closed the link and we quickly started taking each other’s clothes off.


	22. War, War never changes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gang, finally got another update ready, I've been having inspiration for a crossover story so I've been working on that as well. this story is not yet over, but I may or may not start updating slightly slower from now on. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. thank you all for the comments, kudos and for reading.

**Chapter 22**

**War. War never changes.**

I was woken up at 8 AM by Rose.

“Sorry to wake you up my love but we need to get ready.”

“It’s ok, I woke up to a beautiful sight. Let’s hop in the shower quickly.”

We got out of bed and took a shower, which quickly turned into being intimate, it could be our last time after all. After the shower I got dressed in boots, black Levi’s, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. Downstairs Esme waited for me with breakfast and had a couple of storage bins worth of sandwiches for the pack. Alice explained she was still unsure about the exact timing of the newborn army’s arrival, the newborns were restless along the way, which continued to cause delays and they had fought among themselves several times already. Dwindling their numbers a little further down to thirty, it gave us a extra boost of confidence. We might have had a large number on our side too but there always was the fear that some of us wouldn’t make it. Jazz, ever the soldier reminded everybody of the plan and the routes we were to take, especially the pack. Carlisle called ahead to the Denali coven to inform them that we were leaving. I kissed Rose goodbye, which made her upset.

“Bella I don’t like you kissing me like that, it feels like you’re saying goodbye.”

“Sorry I didn’t mean it like that. We’ll meet in the middle of the clearing, I’ll be the one kicking ass dressed in all black, kicking a lot of fucking newborn ass.”

“Hell yeah we’ll kick their fucking asses!” Emmet cut in.

“Bella, Emmett, language!” Esme chided us.

“Sorry mom.” I said while looking sheepishly at Esme

“Sorry mom” Emmet said.

“Well on that note, I’ll head over to the rez before I get myself grounded. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you too. Don’t do anything stupid.” Rose said and pulled me down slightly to give me a kiss.

When we broke off the kiss after a few unnecessary coughs, I went into the garage with the storage bins and put them in the Aston. It didn’t take me long to get to Emily’s house where most of the pack was already present. They looked curiously when I took out the storage bins.

“Esme made sandwiches, Alice has still been unable to determine precisely when they’ll arrive. But all indicators point to it being after lunch.” I said while putting the bins down on the porch.

I noticed Colin and Brady looking at me with puppy eyes.

“Don’t even dare asking, you’re staying here to protect the rez.” I said in my alpha voice which made them whimper and look down.

Sue arrived to wave us off. She was taken aback again by my eyes.

“Interesting color on you, keep them safe Bella. Charlie is off fishing with Billy already but I’m not sure how long that will last.”

“With it or on it Sue, we cant let them get past us. That would be bad for everybody.”

“I know, but I can’t help being worried.” Sue said.

“Don’t worry mom, we’ll be fine, this is what we’re born to do, this is what we trained for.” Leah reassured Sue.

“Alright say y’alls goodbyes, we got a job to do!” I said in my Alpha voice as I headed out.

Shortly afterwards I was joined by my pack who went into the woods to phase, the pouting Collin and Brady staying behind on the porch. I picked up the storage bins, opened a link to my now phased pack and ran towards the clearing following the pre determined route, I carefully kept up a pace that would ensure nobody got too tired. Jake on my right and Leah on my left, they flanked on their sides by Sam and Jared, their respective seconds. After a couple of hours we arrived at our designated hiding spot. I set down the bins and opened them up, 2 with sandwiches and 1 with water. As the pack started approaching our hiding spot I sensed my nearby family, I opened a link to Rose to check in.

“We’re here, any updates yet?”

“Still after lunch according to Alice. I love you.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaw” the pack thought in unison.

“I should’ve mentioned we’re not alone, sorry for that, I love you too darling.”

“Aaaaaaaaaaw” the pack thought again in unison.

“knock it off you bunch of jokers.” I thought.

“It’s kinda sweet though.” Rose thought.

“You really did melt the blonde ice queen didn’t you?” Jake thought.

“Jake so help me god if she decides to decapitate you I’ll help her.”

“I’ll help too.” Leah thought

“Ok, ok, I apologize for calling blondie an ice queen.” The ganged up Jake thought.

“Apology accepted Fido. My love is it always like this?” Rose thought.

“Naah it’s usually worse. I’ll add the others, perhaps Emmett could provide some entertainment.” I thought.

“Hey, don’t call me Fido.”

“Don’t call her an ice queen then, Fido.” I thought to the amusement of everybody.

I started adding family members, eventually the Denali’s and Garrett. Everybody was focusing on a variety of things, Something that infuriated both Jazz and me after a while. Jazz had set up the blood bombs, the ultimate ace up our sleeves. I grabbed several sandwiches while the pack phased so they could eat. Slowly we did get used to everybody’s thoughts and Jazz and I did our best to keep everybody focussed on what was coming. Shortly after we ate, Alice shared her most recent vision, they’d be here shortly and the plan to lure them in would still work. I made the pack phase again and we waited.

“Everybody focus now, remember your training, stay together in your designated pairs and we’ll all get through this.” I said to all.

“Bella we may still get to solve this peacefully.” Carlisle thought.

“If you’re given the opportunity to speak go for it, but be ready for a fight Carlisle. And keep mom safe.”

“Don’t worry Bella Bear, we got this, these fools wont know what hit them.” Emmett thought.

“Don’t get cocky Hulk, focus. And I don’t shift into a bear.” I thought.

“Hulk smash?” Seth thought.

“Hell yeah! HULK SMASH!!!” Emmett thought to everybody’s amusement.

“They found the trail and are following it.” Alice thought.

“hopefully they’ll stop for a couple of seconds but regardless, I’ll do my best to immediately see which ones have dangerous gifts, fortunately we are currently all under the protection of Bella’s shield.” Eleazar thought.

As we laid waiting we could see the field filling up with the newborn army, Victoria at the back together with the kid from forks Riley and Laurent, Irena was furious at him for the way he had lied to her about loving her.

“Keep your cool Irena.” I thought to her.

Carlisle spoke up. “What do you want Victoria? Why have you assembled an army?”

“You know what I want, your Edward and his little girlfriend dead. Bring them to me, leave this area for good and nobody else has to die, I can be reasonable, unlike you when you killed James for wanting his natural food. You should have changed the girl if you wanted her to be a part of your coven, as a human she was nothing more than a snack. Don’t’ think for a second that the help you have gotten will be enough, you have no chance against us.” Victoria said in her high toned voice.

“Edward isn’t with us anymore, nor can we hand you the girl. You will accomplish nothing here today.” Carlisle responded.

“Then you all die.”

“Have you told your newborns about the Volturi? How they will kill them for participating in this.”

“Don’t listen to his gibberish, the Volturi are nothing.” Victoria sang in her high pitch voice.

“Newborns, we mean you no harm, if you leave now, nothing will happen to you and the Volturi wont come after you to end you. This woman has told you nothing but lies, what you are doing is a crime in the vampire world. The Volturi are our overlords who enforce the rules. The punishment for what you’re a part off is death, whether you’re aware of the rules or not wont matter.” Carlisle said to the newborns in general.

“None of you will have heard of me, but I’m the Major of the south, the Major of death. I have led newborn armies in the field for decades, I’ve never lost a battle, you can see all the scars I have to prove it. When you are done here, she will kill you all, you mean nothing to her, you wont get any of the rewards she promised, you are disposable to her. It’s the way Newborn armies have always been treated, very few manage to survive beyond their first year.” Jazz said.

“Enough of their lies! Attack! Kill them all!!!” Victoria shrieked.

It was hard for us to watch the newborns charge at them, our collective rage washed over us, we waited for Jasper to give the word. Victoria, Riley and Laurent stood to the back waiting for it to be over. The Cullens and Denali’s were quickly overrun, but they stayed in their designated pairs, I had to admit I was glad Rose was paired up with the hulk, a strong vampire like him could keep her reasonably safe until I got there. A newborn went straight for Rose, Emmett made a decent feint manoeuvre allowing him to capture the newborn who was promptly beheaded by Rose. Carlisle and Esme were both battling a newborn, while keeping her in between them and a second newborn that was coming for them. Kate zapped newborns that got within reach, to be beheaded by Garrett. Jazz had bitten a newborn in the neck to temporarily take him out and started fighting the next one while Alice finished off the one Jazz had bit. More newborns started joining the fight.

“Now Bella!” Jazz thought loudly.

“Jake you lead them, I’m circling around and going for Victoria.”

“Wolves, charge, watch your targets, don’t let them get their arms around you!” I ordered in my Alpha voice.

The pack took the direct route to join the fight while I circled around to come up behind Victoria, running as fast and as silent as I could. Just as the pack came charging through the woods and bit several surprised newborns I came up behind Victoria, her uncanny sense of escape had failed her this time, but a wise person once said, there’s nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal. Just as she turned around I punched her as hard as I could, her face was heavily cracked as she flew into the fight. Aware of it, Sarah went for Victoria, also having some issues to work out with her. Riley jumped at me while yelling, clearly intending to get his arms around me. I had to fight him since I had lost the element of surprise. I side stepped and tried throwing him off balance. Sam ran to me to fight with Laurent. Riley attack again, very direct given he was still a newborn, he kept yelling he’d kill me for hurting his Victoria.

“Is that it Riley? She told you she loves you?” I said after dodging one of his swings.

“She’s doing this for me so that I can feed freely, she wants to take care of me because that’s what mates do.” He yelled while trying to hit me.

“Mates? You’re not her mate riley, James was her mate.” I said back while landing a punch of my own.

“James wasn’t her mate, I am.” He said after his short recovery.

I saw a opening to give Sam a hand and ran over and during my run ripped off one of laurent’s arms. Riley was close behind me, I heard several whines from wolves that got hit by the newborns. Using my senses I waited for Riley to jump at me. I immediately rolled to a stop causing him to overshoot. I wanted to rip his arm off but he had fought back, ultimately I only removed his left hand. I quickly threw the left hand away, while Riley let out a scream in agony. His face twisted with pain he started jabbing at me with his venom coated stump, I glanced off a blow and hit his knee hard enough to shatter it. With a flick I snapped his head off. With Riley disabled I went to help Sam against the one armed Laurent who was putting up one hell of a fight.

“Sam I’m going for his remaining arm, it’ll open him up.” I said to Sam through our link.

I went for Laurent’s remaining arm a move he countered, but It opened him up enough for Sam to grab Laurent between his jaws. A few punches in Laurent’s face later had him out enough to snap his head off with ease. I turned my attention back to the main fight, several wolves were injured, Some vampires were more focused on protecting their mates than actually joining the fight.

“Focus! Everybody fights!” I ordered in my alpha voice which somehow seemed to effect the vampires a little too.

Seth was being caught off guard by a newborn that had hid in the woods briefly, Leah our fastest runner was running to Seth to bump him out of the way, we all knew it wouldn’t give her the chance to get out of the way herself.

“Sam, let’s join the main fight. Jazz set off the bombs.”

“Bella you two are too close.” Jazz thought.

“Irrelevant, blow them now!”

As Sam and I ran back explosions started around us, we were unable to get in the clear fast enough and were partially covered in the bloody fog, but it worked, the newborns lost their focus, allied vampires and the shifters worked together, newborns were being thrown to the awaiting jaws of shifters where they met the demise, Emmett helped out Jared who had gotten swarmed by several newborns. Soon half of the remaining ones were decimated, we severely outnumbered the remaining ones. Unfortunately the one that was about to grab Seth had been too far off and when Leah bumped Seth away he got him arms around her.

“Kate you’re the closest, zap his ass.”

Kate zapped the newborn into submission and Garrett detached his head. Leah was badly injured but had to wait until the rest of the newborns were dealt with. I ran to Rose as fast as I could, jumping onto the newborn in front of her, holding his head between my thighs. He attempted to grab onto me with his arms but Rose quickly dismembered him. I grabbed him by the chin and started pulling, cracks started to appear and with a quick snap I took his head off. Once back on the ground we quickly ran over to the girl that was in front of Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle ever the compassionate diplomat was trying to reason with her. Rose with a feint movement was able to grab her from behind and I pulled her head off her neck with ease. I turned my attention to the link searching for Victoria who was putting up a vicious fight against Jake and Sarah. I ran over there and with a jump landed in front of her while giving her a hard right punch. Most of the newborns had already been dealt with, the few remaining didn’t have much time left. Victoria was desperately looking for ways to escape but finally we had her surrounded, with a combined force of vampires and wolves.

“Just you and me Victoria, there’s no running this time.”

“I will kill you before I die here.” She snarled at me.

“We’ll see, you’re a runner, not a fighter. And you’ll never have a chance like this again Victoria.”

Victoria viciously started attacking me. I glanced off or dodged most of her punches, the few connects she made were minor. Her eyes were the blackest eyes I had ever seen. But they still betrayed her movements. Every time there was an opening I punched her hard in the chest, it loudly cracked every time, using all the strength I had from feeding on animal blood my fist eventually made it through her chest. Her cold still heart punched out. With what little strength she had left, Victoria snarled and tried to jump me, I dodged her causing her to faceplant the ground. A hard stomp on her neck caused her head to separate from her holed body. Sarah grabbed Victoria’s head with her teeth and threw it aside. The few remaining newborns were shocked to see their last remaining leader and their creator defeated and were easily dispatched.

“Carlisle, Rose on me, Jake take over again and oversee that all the pieces are collected and set on fire.” I ordered.

We ran over to Leah who was painfully howling, her light gray wolf form was clearly mangled from the damage the newborn had done when he got his arms around her. Carlisle started looking at the damage.

“All the bones on the right side of her body are shattered and have reset incorrectly, I’ll need to rebreak every one of them to reset them correctly.” Carlisle said in full doctor mode.

“We’ll take her to her house, get what supplies you need from home and Rose will bring you to the right house.” I said.

“Bella, it will be easier to treat her if you can get her to phase.”

I nodded and turned my attention to Leah, grabbing her head gently.

“It’s gonna be ok you silly girl. Focus on my voice Leah, forget about the pain. Seth is fine, you saved him.”

Leah acknowledged she understood through the link.

“Leah why did you have to do that, I had it.” Seth thought

“Shut up Seth!” I yelled at him causing him to whimper.

“Leah you got to phase back to your human form, I know you can do this. Focus only on your human form, find the will to phase.”

It took Leah a while but eventually she slowly phased into her human form, the painful agony coming from her wolf form was replaced by screams of pain. I quickly put her shorts on as best as I could and put the oversized shirt Emmett had thrown over to us on top. I scooped her up in my arms bridal style.

“Rose, Carlisle I’ll see you soon. Carlisle every wolf will know you have a pass.” I said as I turned around.

In the center of the clearing there was a raging fire, all the dead vampires were piled up and a big billow of thick stinking purple smoke was coming off the fire. Family and friendly vampires were nursing their wounds with venom. I ran to the Clearwater house as fast as I could, The pack tried to keep up but I was too fast. As I got closer to the border I came across Colin and Brady, I ordered them to stay at the border and give Carlisle and Rose an escort. Soon though they joined me with Rose and Carlisle before I got to Leah’s house, I was getting fatigued at this point but the pack was still behind since they were fatigued as well.

“Rose, when we get there you open the front door for us. Bella, take her straight to her room and put her down on the bed.” Carlisle said while running with several bags and a stand.

When I looked I saw, Rose was also carrying stuff. I found my second wind and picked up speed again. I tried to comfort Leah as best I could while running, she was constantly screaming in pain. We stopped on the edge of the road looking for any cars and quickly crossed, when we got to the Clearwater house, the sun was shining on the front it made Carlisle hesitant.

“We have no time and no choice Carlisle, you have a patient that needs you.”

We slowed down to avoid running down Sue’s front door, Rose opened it and as we ran through Sue screamed no. Charlie was in a state of shock and billy was present. Rose opened the door of Leah’s bedroom that I identified for her and I laid Leah down on the bed. Carlisle got to work with Rose assisting him.

“Bella, this is going to be bad, it will take a while and she’ll be in a lot of pain. You should go inform her mother until the pack gets here.” Carlisle said.

I nodded and left the bedroom. Sue was running towards me, wanting to see her daughter. I grabbed her and pulled her back to the living room.

“Sue. Sue! Look at me!” I said to get her attention. “Leah jumped in front of a newborn to bump Seth out of the way, She broke a lot of bones, they have all set wrong, Carlisle is going to have to rebreak them and set them correctly, Leah will be ok, she’s strong, There’s nothing you can do to help her right now.”

“My baby girl, no.” Sue cried out as a scream came from Leah’s room, fortunately Sue couldn’t hear the bone that was rebroken by Carlisle.

“Leah will be ok, Sue.” I comforted her while walking her to the couch the shocked Charlie was still sitting on.

“What about Jake?” Billy asked

“Dad!” I yelled to Charlie to snap him out of it.

“Bella what happened? Are Sarah and Jake ok?” he asked when he came to.

“Dad I need you to take care of Sue right now. Leah is hurt the worst everybody else has scrapes and bruises” I said as I put Sue down on the couch.

“The Cullens really are the cold ones from the legends I was told?” Charlie murmured to himself.

“Yes dad they are, focus on Sue. Billy watch everybody.” I said while I headed outside to intercept the pack.

It didn’t take long for Colin and Brady to arrive, up next was Jake and Sarah.

“Jake, keep everybody outside, especially Seth. It’s going to be bad.” I said after closing the link I still had open with everybody.

I went back inside and as I closed the front door behind me Leah let out another scream followed by enough swear words to give Esme a heart attack. I went into Leah’s bedroom to help as best as I could. Together with Rose I held her as still as possible whenever Carlisle broke one of her bones. Rose constantly monitored Leah’s vitals when Carlisle was waiting for a bone to set. During the breaks I comforted Leah, the morphine kept her fairly comfortable when Carlisle wasn’t breaking bones. It was agonizing whenever he broke a bone, her screams went through bone marrow. And the vocabulary Leah was using was surprising to say the least. When she passed out Carlisle decided to give her a short break, to not overload her system. I stepped outside Leah’s bedroom to go update Sue and then the pack.

“Bella how is she?!” Sue asked with tears in her eyes as soon as I came into her view.

Sue wanted to get up but Charlie held her down on the couch at Billy’s insistence.

I sat down on a available chair.

“She passed out, Carlisle is giving her system a brief rest. But Sue, Leah will be fine, I wouldn’t lie to you about that, she’s just hurt badly, once all the bones are set she’ll be up and running in no time. She will be fine Sue, don’t worry.” I said to Sue while Charlie comforted her.

“Bells, what the hell happened today?” Charlie asked

“We did our job, dad. We protected Forks and the tribal lands.”

“From cold ones?”

“Yes.”

“And the Cullens are cold ones? They helped you?”

“They are but they are also different, my ancestor Ephraim made a treaty with them back in his day.” Billy answered.

“How can they be different? Bells you must be in danger living with them?”

“Dad they are different because they don’t feed on humans, they choose to live off of animal blood. And no I’m not in danger, my blood doesn’t appeal to them or any vampire at all really, same as with any other shifter. Part of me is like them too, when I was 12 I got attacked by a vampire when Veronica was out of time, a vampires venom puts the victim in excruciating pain, given time it transforms you into one of them. But the vampire that attacked me had no intention of letting me transform, he was a sadist enjoying torturing me. After a day the spirit of Taha Aki our greatest chief and the last spirit warrior found me again, he had protected me before when I was abused, his spirit merged with mine, it activated the magic of our people that is present in our blood. He took control of my body and made me phase, it was enough to kill the surprised vampire and neutralized the venom. But to an extent I had already become a partial vampire, I’ll always be both a vampire and a shifter. I can’t die, when I fell off that cliff I ended up being clinically dead, I should have died but I kept living when they unhooked the ventilator, it was enough for Carlisle to keep working on me. Any other shifter would have died. Carlisle guesses that I wont be doing much if any ageing anymore. Taha Aki’s spirit has merged with mine, he’s a part of me. It gives me the authority over the tribe, over the pack, he was the ancestor of all present here today, but I’ll always be this. Any pack member will in time when they gain sufficient control over their inner wolf, be able to stop phasing, they’ll grow old and will eventually die. But I will always be this, a freak unable to move forward, a monster if you will. Don’t blame yourself for any of it dad, please.” I said.

I hadn’t noticed Rose joined us till I was done talking and she laid a hand on my shoulder.

“You’re not a freak or a monster Bella, don’t talk about yourself like that.” Rose said.

I pulled Rose on my lap.

“At least I got you, my darling.” I said with a smile.

“I’m sorry all of that happened to you bells, you’re not a monster or a freak. So uh you fell in love with a vampire then?”

“Well we’re compatible if that’s what you’re asking. And it’s more complicated, shifters we do something that’s called imprinting, it’s how we recognize our soulmate, the one person we’re meant to be with, Vampires do something similar. Imprinting can be another reason a shifter stops ageing, though normally it’s more temporary.” I turned to Rose. “How is she?”

“Still out, she’s burning off the morphine quickly, we’ll start again soon. Esme called to check in.”

“How are they? Is everybody ok?”

“They are all good, but they were worried about Leah. She wanted me to ask you if there’s anything she can do. She offered to cook for everybody and deliver it to the border.”

“Let her bring it over here, I’m sure the last thing Sue wants to do today is cook dinner.” Billy spoke up.

“You take this alliance too serious old man.”

“If you’d prefer Charlie and I to cook dinner that’s fine too.” Billy replied.

“Well, we may have a doctor present at the moment but I’m sure this isn’t the time for a food poisoning outbreak. I’ll text her.” I made eye contact with Charlie “As your tribal chief I order you to never speak about vampires to anyone no present in or around this house.” I said in my Alpha voice to protect Charlie against himself.

“I won’t tell anyone Bells.”

I went outside to update the pack, they had been joined by Kim and Emily, I asked if they wanted food and stated that Esme would cook. The battle had drained us all so plenty were hungry. I texted Esme.

**Bella: *Hey mom, we’ll be here for some time, you can deliver the food here if you want, but only if it’s no bother, I’m sure we’ll figure something out otherwise. I love you and I’m glad you’re ok.***

**Mom: *I love you too sweetheart. It’s no bother, I’m glad you’re ok too. I’ll be there with the food as soon as possible, I assume that it’s for the whole pack and some extra?***

**Bella: *Yes, the pack plus 5. It’s ok to keep it simple, see you soon. I owe you a hug, Sorry if I was bossy today. Carlisle says Leah woke up, we’ll start again.”**

**Mom: *I’ll be there soon sweetheart. And I didn’t mind you being bossy today, but I’ll gladly accept that hug.***

Over the next hour we kept working on Leah who screamed and swore to high heavens, the pack kept anxiously waiting outside. Jake was barely able to keep Seth under control outside. Eventually the last bone was reset, Leah was carefully wrapped up to ensure her bones would remain in position while they fully healed, once done she passed out again. Carlisle checked her vitals again and gave her some more morphine. The three of us left Leah’s room and went over to Sue who was a wreck by now.

“Mrs. Clearwater, your daughter is resting now, you can go see her if you want but I’d have to ask you to not disturb her or wake her up. I’ll have to come back later to set up a morphine drip. She will be ok soon, but getting plenty of rest will be important.” Carlisle said.

“Thank you doctor, call me Sue.” Sue said while holding out her hand to Carlisle.

Carlisle shook her hand, after which Sue rapidly went to Leah’s room. We went outside, Carlisle was going to leave to get a morphine drip, when Esme pulled up in his Mercedes.

“Leah will be fine, she’s resting now. Seth you can go see her but don’t wake her up. Food’s here guys.” I said to the pack.

I ran over to Esme who had just gotten out of the car. And pulled her into a tight hug.

“Glad you’re ok mom.”

“Glad you’re ok too sweetheart. How is Leah?”

“She’s resting now, She’ll be fine. Thank you for having cooked for us.”

Esme unloaded multiple trays of lasagna, clearly she had planned ahead. The news that Leah would be fine brought back a lot of appetites, Carlisle drove his car to the clinic, while Esme and Emily oversaw the table being set and the food being heated and served. We brought Sue and Seth a plate in Leah’s room, ensuring that they both ate. The food was to die for. The events of the day were starting to settle in. We had won, nobody on our side died, Rose was safe. I opened a connection with her.

_“I’m sorry I haven’t been really talking to you since before the battle. I’m glad you’re safe and unharmed, I love you.”_

_“I love you too my love, no need to apologize, you had a lot on your mind, don’t forget I could hear your thoughts and worry for Leah. Are you ok?”_

_“Thank you darling, I’m always ok when you’re with me.”_

_“I appreciate the flattery but are you physically OK?”_

_“A little sore, but nothing too bad.”_

_“I’ll give you a massage when we get home.”_

_“The soreness will be over by then, quick healer.”_

_“I’ll still give you a massage.”_ Rose thought and gave me a smile.

“Can you two knock it off or get a room, you’re going to make me throw up this delicious lasagna.” Jake said.

“Shut up Jake!” Rose and I said simultaneously to everybody’s amusement.

Sarah chided him too which made it even more hilarious.

“Oh Jake you’re totally pussy whipped!” I teased him

“Bella language!” Esme shouted from the kitchen where she was finishing the dessert.

“Sorry mom!”

“You were saying?” Jake asked jokingly gaining him a hard slap on the back of his head from Sarah, causing everybody to laugh.

“I think you just proved my point Jake.”

“A mother daughter relationship is different Jake.” Sarah chided him again.

“But she’s not Bella’s mother.” Jake complained causing him to get slapped in the head again.

“Well at least I know who’ll be wearing the pants.” Charlie managed to get out between laughs.

“Jake, sometimes people find individuals in their life that become their parental figures. If you want some fatherly advice, quit before you’ll get another slap on the back of the head.” Billy added.

“Esme may not have given birth to me Jake but she’s my mom in every possible way.” I added.

“It’s true, seeing them together makes me realize more every time that I made the right decision.” Charlie added.

“You’re still my dad though and you always will be, dad.” I said to Charlie causing him to smile.

“So I was held hostage here today because of the battle?”

“Yeah, to ensure your safety, our puppies stayed behind to protect the rez.”

“Well then I feel I’m owed an actual fishing trip on the sea, Billy was having kittens the entire time and we returned way too soon. Next time I’d prefer not being kept in the dark.”

“Let’s start by hoping there wont be a next time.” I said

When dessert was being served by Esme, Carlisle had returned and went to set up the drip. Charlie would be staying over to help out Sue till Leah was back on her feet. She had briefly regained consciousness, got Seth to stop apologizing and convinced him it wasn’t his fault. Charlie and Billy made actual fishing plans. There was a lot of relief going around in general, we could lay down some of our burdens and return to much shorter patrols, focusing mainly on the tribal lands. After dessert Esme wanted to clear the table to quickly do the dishes. Emily stopped her.

“That’s not the way we do it here, Esme, you’ve done so much already. Wolves, get to work.” Emily said.

“You may be mom, but she’s the wolf mother.” I jokingly said to Esme as I got up.

We quickly cleared the table and split off into groups doing the various clean up chores. Before long Esme had her trays and containers back and Sue’s dishes, cutlery and glasses were back in their place. It was time for everybody to get some rest, we went to say goodbye to Sue, I pulled Charlie into a little bit of a too tight hug, glad that he was safe. Esme and Carlisle left in his Mercedes while Rose and I went to retrieve the Aston. We drove home to greet our family and joined the impromptu celebration, everybody was euphoric about our victory. We didn’t stay downstairs for too long, the Denali’s were there and the smell was a bit much, but we did of course exchange pleasantries. I kept Rose close, it was becoming harder to resist her, clearly she had similar ideas as I had with her constant teasing. Before she could drive me completely insane, I let out my fangs to the surprise of the Denali’s that we were talking to and I turned to Rose.

“I wanna do bad things to you.” I said as I scooped her up bridal style and took her upstairs.


End file.
